The words come sparingly. And in the silence the few words are unavoidable, imperative and perhaps even – one day - healing.
did you come closer when I was asleep?
did you touch me and then leave?
or did you stay with me until I woke up?
and when I opened my eyes,
you disappeared,
walking backward so I could not see
that it was you in the room
with me
are you coming back?
are you here?
can I do anything
to make you stay?
In UNISONO Abke Haring gave free rein to the various voices in her head. In PLATINA Haring seeks out the company of a tangible adversary – played by Koen van Kaam – with whom she starts a conversation. Or at least, with whom she wants to start a conversation. In so far as a conversation is ever possible. Or permitted. Or avoided.
Abke Haring: “When I make a production, I find that most is said in silence. That’s how I am in life too: feeling and being. In silence you can do so much: the way you look at each other, where you stand, are you close or far away? Are you confident, are you unsure? Best of all, I would like to make images or movements but because I want to say things, it’s always words which come.”
The words come sparingly. And in the silence the few words are unavoidable, imperative and perhaps even – one day - healing. Jimi Zoet designed a penetrating soundscape for this intimate duet which closely follows the thought pattern of Haring & Co.
Abke Haring creates a world from which there is no escape. Both body and language are marked by an uninterrupted sense of oppression. The clever script
affects on every level, with seeming superficiality constantly transected by sudden cries of anguish which reach for the essence. (....) Abke Haring and Koen Van Kaam pull out all the stops and portray their troubled characters with staggering precision.
"In their poetic and convincing duet, Abke Haring and Koen van Kaam play two people unable to connect with each other. Moving and beautiful"
"The production is one of raw, palpating pain of almost unbearable intensity."
"The moment you want to shout out in anger, frustration or despair but realize that it is better to keep quiet, to simply accept and if necessary pull faces. Abke Haring and Koen van Kaam took that moment as their starting point for Platina, Abke Haring’s last achievement as a theatre-maker with Toneelhuis. “It’ll be a blockbuster”, she confided to Knack in November 2015. Well, it was a blockbuster!"
"The game of control and loss of control that Haring plays reflects the main theme of Platina; it makes the play her most devastating work in years."
director
- Abke Haring
text
- Abke Haring
performance
- Abke Haring
- Koen Van Kaam
soundscape
- Jimi Zoet
coaching
- Peter Seynaeve
production
- Toneelhuis
coproduction
- Zuidpool
with the support of
- Tax Shelter maatregel v/d Belgische Federale Overheid
- Casa Kafka Pictures Tax Shelter powered by Belfius
