De Roovers’ dark comedy peels away the layers
Antwerp theatre group De Roovers focus on their role as humble servants of society by tackling an “almost unplayable” tragicomedy by the Austrian playwright Peter Handke
Tell me something about yourself
And it doesn’t, alas, get better from here. De laatsten der onverstandigen (The Last of the Foolish), the next chapter in their Dollar Cycle, is even darker. Philosophical reflections about language, ageing and – most prominently – identity alternate with scenes in the life of an entrepreneur with a brutal identity crisis. He cheats on his business associates and his wife, and even his mistress can’t make him feel anything anymore.
But what do you expect from someone whose feelings are only useful if he can make money from them? Feelings are an endangered commodity in this world of business executives fixing prices to make more profits. In his 1974 play, Austrian playwright Peter Handke exposes the first cracks in the West’s model of consumption. De Roovers translate his social critique to our times, which are more than ever under the spell of the seemingly irreversible consequences of commercialisation.
“Why don’t you tell me something about yourself?” remains the one question evoking some kind of antidote here. Though often, it’s only asked to hide something else. Sara De Bosschere, of the popular TV sketch comedy Wat als? plays Paula Tax, a colleague and the mistress of the merciless entrepreneur Hermann Quitt, the lead role played by guest actor Jurgen Delnaet (on the big screen now in Halfweg). “Everything here is stripped and ripped off,” she says. “It’s like peeling an onion.”
Intuition and poetry
This image was often used by Dora van der Groen, the teacher of all four members of De Roovers at Studio Herman Teirlinck theatre school, where their career as a collective started 20 years ago. “Layer by layer, we had to peel all those plays to find out there was nothing in the middle,” says De Bosschere. “A harrowing conclusion that also in this play leads to total downfall.”
Handke proves here that life only exists in relationship to others
It’s the same conclusion you encounter trying to find out the essence of life, she says. “Handke, who just wrote a book about losing his mother to suicide, proves here that life only exists in relationship to others. Most interestingly, he does this without moral judgement. As a player and a spectator, you just get stuck in his train of thought.”
This train of thought goes in all directions, with a lot more talking than plot, making it “an almost impossible play to play,” says Luc Nuyens, who embodies Karl-Heinz Lutz, one of the cheated entrepreneurs. “But intuitively we were all drawn to this very lucid and poetic play. We could have done another Arthur Miller or Shakespeare, but we know already how to do that. This was a far bigger challenge.”
Now enter the shabby Franz Kilb, played by guest actor Wouter Hendrickx. He is the small shareholder, possessing only one share in every big company. Travelling the country with his sleeping bag, he’s not missing out on any shareholder meetings while representing the community. “Quitt and Kilb seem like opposites,” says Nuyens, “one choosing consistently for himself, the other for the exact opposite. But I’ve always seen them as the same character.”
In a strange way they look up to each other’s mercilessness, but in the long run they both lose. “If you only choose in favour of the community, you lose yourself and end up nowhere,” explains Nuyens. “If you only choose for yourself, you lose the community and end up alone at exactly the same spot. Conclusion: Life is being somewhere in between, making it a play about identity, defined by both the way you oppose your community and the way it gives you comfort.”
Celebrating theatre itself
While doing research – such as reading the book (and sharp social critique) Identiteit by Flemish psychoanalyst Paul Verhaeghe – the team realised how clearly this whole idea had been formulated back in the 1970s, while simultaneously proffering a clear political statement: You can’t just do your own thing without considering the rest of the world.
As actors we consider ourselves a bit like the humble servants of society
“Back then, Handke was blamed for making elitist theatre that had nothing to do with the labour or leftist movement,” says De Bosschere. “You can read the play as an attempt to write a socially committed piece, even though you get the feeling he’s constantly failing. When the politics get too explicit, he dwells on identity.”
Surprisingly, in this world of money, it’s Hans, Quitt’s humble helper, who feels most free. While serving, he learned to enjoy the simple things, like putting the rubbish bag out on the street. “He’s the only hopeful character in the whole play; he still has the ability to dream,” Nuyens says. “Though it isn’t simple. You hear him say: ‘I always walked crooked, but now I’m walking straight; I catch a lot of wind.’”
As actors, continues Nuyens, “we consider ourselves a bit like the humble servants of society, trying to stand upright, failing, but hanging on.” Which brings him to their 20th anniversary as a company. And how can you better celebrate that than by doing what you always did, and what you still enjoy more than anything? In December, the iconic The Iceman Cometh by the American playwright Eugene O’Neill, will be the next part of their Dollar Cycle.
“It’s a play about a birthday party in a bar where people gather to talk about life,” says Nuyens with a smile. “We are especially delighted that it focuses on a bunch of people hanging around in a bar with their pipe dreams, just like we are still trapped in this small theatre collective and can’t get out of it. We see the humour in that. So let us have our little party on stage, celebrating theatre itself.”
13-15 March, 20.30 (In Dutch)
Monty
Montignystraat 3, Antwerp
On tour across Flanders until 10 May
www.deroovers.be
More performance this month
tg STAN
JDX: A Public Enemy
To celebrate their 25th anniversary, the four players of tg STAN reprise JDX: A Public Enemy (in Dutch), the performance they created in 1993. It’s not a coincidence that they’re revisiting this tale of one man standing against a (social and political) majority in the wake of the elections, questioning the fundaments of our democracy. 19-22 March, Monty, Antwerp (in Dutch). On tour until 10 May
www.stan.be
BUDA VISTA #4
This showcase festival of the Kortrijk arts centre focuses on interdisciplinary and most unpredictable performances. Is Bryana Fritz and Christoffer Schiehe’s The Breakfast Club dance or theatre? Is Diederik Peeters’ Hulk theatre, film or reality? And is choreographer Mette Ingvartsen’s The Red Archive performance, exhibition or sex?20-22 March, Paardenstallen & Budafabriek, Kortrijk
www.budakortrijk.be
Burning Ice #7
The seventh edition of the Burning Ice festival in Kaaitheater gives scientists, policymakers, activists and performers the opportunity to express their views on the genetic technology approach to world food issues and the agro-ecological alternative that centres on resilience and biodiversity. 27-29 March, Kaaitheater & Kaaistudio’s, Brussels
www.kaaitheater.be
