Everybody Indian
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Alain Platel presents, with Arne Sierens, a new composition at the Salzburg Festival in the year 2000: Everybody Indian. (Photo: Chris Van der Burght) |
Two houses. They look real ... or not because it is a set. But, thay have real doors and windows and a rain-pipe strong enough to climb on. By open windows one can hear something, once they are closed you can only guess what the inhabitants hatch out in the four rooms and hallways. There is also the street and a small alley between the two houses and a motley crowd of twelve people. Moved stirred talks exprassed by moving people. A torrent of blended, wacky, mordant and caustic dialogues. "Everybody Indian" in this reserve.
This is the opening scene of Everybody Indian, a new work written by the Flemish authors Alain Platel (*1956) and Arne Sierens (*1959). It is the third part of a trilogy which began with the very successful Mother and Child in 1995 and was followed in 1996 by Bernadetje. Platel and Sierens' plays are always highly modern and their non-linear narrative technique and aesthetic form place them in the tradition of Julian Beck (his early work), the Wooster group, Jérome Savary, Richard Forman and the theatre of Reza Abdou. Emir Kusturica's theory that "the best stories, and the ones that are easiest to tell, are those that one has experienced oneself, those that happen around one" also applies to the two Flemish playwrights. Their works are highly dramatic: logical and illogical and entertaining, like life itself.
Attending a rehearsal affords interesting insight into the work of Platel and Sierens. Children, youths and adults of various nationalities are present. They discuss matters with the actors, listen to them, and observe things very closely. It is exciting to see how producers and actors listen to each other's suggestions, debate with each other and look for common solutions, rejecting one idea, trying out another, going back to the start over and over again. Photograph albums, CDs and videos lie strewn around; on the wall there's a sheet of paper containing provisional arrangements.
Alain Platel and his stage company, "Les Ballets C. de la B.", have enjoyed international recognition and acclaim for years. His productions and choreograpy work are on the programmes of many famous festivals and theatres around the world.
Arne Sierens became famous as a writer for the stage. He is co-director of the Nieuwpoort Theater in Gent where he often directs his own works. He also has connections with Luk Perceval, author and director of Schlachten (Battles), which was produced at the Salzburg Festival in 1999. Sierens has written a number of works for his "De Blauwe Maandag Compagnie".
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