“Four men, four complete idiots. The picture that is painted of men in Desperado is not a favourable one. And that’s why it’s so funny. There’s a lot to make you laugh, but at the same time it’s quite pitiful. The play was written twenty years ago, but what it says is still relevant today. Humour of the abyss.” – Bart Meuleman
Four blokes spend the weekend together in a cowboy village. In full regalia. In their mind’s eye they are heroes of the Far West, in reality heroism is painfully far off. From their bar stools they analyze the world, work, women – and, yes, they even touch on themselves.
The Dutch duo Kas & de Wolf wrote the script for Desperado with its melancholic but compelling humour.
The explicit absence of a subject beyond actual talking highlights what the problem is with these four. There is no kernel inside that imaginary husk; just four failed cowboys on a bar stool who live and survive by grace of the image they have created of themselves. But the amazing thing is that it works! The illusion persists, despite the ridiculous seventies outfits, the overplayed accent and the dirty tricks they play on their ‘mates’. Nobody shatters the dream: not you, not Kas and De Wolf and certainly not Bart Meuleman. So despite the contradiction of reality, the four men simply believe in themselves. And in their undying friendship. What does it matter that it’s not true? The illusion gives them untold strength.
"Drily humorous but as hard as nails. Desperado sketches the unsuccessful efforts of four men to make something meaningful of their lives (…) The reason the interminable balderdash hits home so hard is all down to a magnificent quartet of actors. (…) A brilliant example of windbags of the highest order."
"This script is a rousing game of what is at face value drivel, full of repetitions and nonsense, but in its clever construction and rhythm a daring exploit that good actors can mould into a first-rate evening about the tragedy of being human. And here we had a line-up of four first-rate actors."
director
- Bart Meuleman
text
- Kas & de Wolf
with
- Tom Dewispelaere
- Kevin Janssens
- Johan Van Assche
- Peter Van den Begin
costume design
- Monique Van Hassel
production
- Toneelhuis
