ONE SONG: Histoire(s) du Théâtre IV
What is your history as a theatre maker? Miet Warlop formulates an answer as only she can. In the series Histoire(s) du Théâtre she is the fourth director to accept the challenge of a creation in which present, past and future meet each other in an inspiring way – after Milo Rau, Faustin Linyekula and Angélica Liddell.
ONE SONG – Histoire(s) du Théâtre IV is set in the unique universe of Warlop.
A group of performers enters the arena for a mesmerizing ritual about farewell, life and death, hope and resurrection. Together they go through extremes: through sung text, images and objects, oxygen and sweat, they evoke our condition humaine. Again and again, someone stands up to push their boundaries. They defy time and give expression to a deep human need: the moment when we can transcend our thinking body.
Through the metaphor of a live competition/concert, including a commentator and a cheerleader, Miet Warlop invites us to form a community and lift each other up, as in a celebration. The temporary thus becomes the universal, and the personal becomes something of the collective. That is the subtext of ONE SONG: how one song can give meaning to a whole society. Unity in diversity.
The performance has been chosen by the New York Times as one of the best performances of 2022. “Incredible virtuosity,” writes the newspaper. “A wild, exhilarating study of the absurd.”
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Miet Warlop
Irene Wool vzw- Genre: Theatre
- World premiere: 8 July 2022 (Festival d'Avignon)
- Direction: Miet Warlop
- Creation & performance: Simon Beeckaert, Elisabeth Klinck, Willem Lenaerts/Gilles Vandecaveye-Pinoy, Milan Schudel, Melvin Slabbinck, Joppe Tanghe, Karin Tanghe, Wietse Tanghe and Stanislas Bruynseels, Rint Dens †, Judith Engelen, Marius Lefever, Luka Mariën, Flora Van Canneyt, Max Colonne
- Music: Maarten Van Cauwenberghe
- Coproduction: Festival d'Avignon, DE SINGEL (Antwerp), Tandem Scène Nationale (Arras-Douai), Théâtre Dijon Bourgogne Centre dramatique national, HAU Hebbel am Ufer Berlin, La Comédie de Valence - Centre dramatique national Drôme - Ardèche, Teatre Lliure (Barcelona)
- With the support of: De Vlaamse Overheid, Stad Gent
Best Performance
Syndicat professionnel de la Critique de Théâtre, Musique et Danse (FR)
“The most exalted show of the opening days eliciting a massive ovation” ****
The Guardian
"Loud, preposterous and extremely entertaining"
The New York Times
“The experience of listening to one song on repeat for an hour fiddles between tedious and ecstatic. However, if you disengage, the band does not. They consistently push through to something greater. In the end, all affect is worn off, as their shirts are soaked through with sweat. Planned self-expression crumbles away to something more raw, even quasi-religious. When it was all said and done, they received a near immediate and universal standing ovation, an uncommon occurrence in Avignon.”
Broadway world
"A fascinating artist who is finally getting more recognition"
Le Monde
"A rocking primal scream that bursts with zest for life, energy and humour"
De Standaard
“A miracle that awakened the festival with a comforting and deeply moving trance, thanks to the powero f the collective.”
Theatral Magazine