“In WE DON'T SPEAK TO BE UNDERSTOOD, Verdonck and Ampe put their most mischievous foot forward to the sound of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons to perform, dance and trip a nimble ode to camaraderie …. In these bleak times, this duo goes for absurd agility. It feels like a swig of fresh mineral water on a sultry, hot summer day. “- Els Van Steenberghe in Knack Focus***, 29 April 2015
Toneelhuis-maker Benjamin Verdonck and dancer cum theatremaker Pieter Ampe have made an idiosyncratic show together. On stage the seasons file past, but not always as one would expect. What sort of impact do these ever-changing circumstances have on them? Will they stand their ground amidst those changes, or will they always be the plaything of the increasing chaos? In this visual performance Verdonck and Ampe are sceneshifter and object, singer and dancer.
WE DON’T SPEAK TO BE UNDERSTOOD is a disconcerting concertante with a marvellous, unending epilogue which leaves the audience feeling abandoned and helpless.
“I am arguing that the Theatre of the Absurd is not about absurdity,
but about making life meaningful given our absurd situation.”
(Michael Bennett - Reassessing the Theatre of the Absurd)
“WE DON’T SPEAK TO BE UNDERSTOOD is a cross between hilarious slapstick and poetic imagination.” - Moos Van den Broek at Theaterkrant.nl****, 23 April 2015
“WE DON'T SPEAK TO BE UNDERSTOOD relies on contrast. The refined and cultivated performer Verdonck versus the rough and rugged primordial man Ampe, down whose wild beard clear honey runs in golden rays…. Pieter Ampe and Benjamin Verdonck show, with almost nothing, the uneasy relation that the ‘civilized’ West has with the rest of the ‘uncivilized' world.” - Evelyne Coussens in De Morgen***, 27 April 2015
by and with
- Peter Seynaeve
- Pieter Ampe
- Louise Crabbé
- Korneel Coessens
- Iwan Van Vlierberghe
- Benjamin Verdonck
production
- CAMPO
- Toneelhuis
- KVS
coproduction
- La Bâtie, Festival de Genève
- BIT Teatergarasjen
