Fresh Flakes & In exile / في المنفى

Dramaproject by Alicia Andries, Robbe Vandenven & Marah Haj

For six weeks over the past academic year Alicia, Marah and Robbe worked together on a performance for their dramaproject. With their various working methods (Marah previously obtained a Bachelor of Dance at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp) they challenged each other in all kinds of improvisation exercises. Together they wrote, played and choreographed. For the last 2 weeks they’ve made the decision to continue in a duet (Alicia and Robbe) titled Fresh Flakes and a solo (Marah) under the name In exile / في المنفى .

About Fresh Flakes:

“Who did that to the poor baby birds?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it was a cuckoo.”

“Why?”

“Because it needed a nest.”

“Why doesn’t it just make its own nest?”

“Because that’s nature, that’s just the way things are.”

“I don’t like the way things are. They’re terrible.”

“Well, it’s only horrible sometimes” (Finnegan, 2019, 0:03:13)

Two figures wanting to be saved. Sometimes they are friends and seem to know each other. Other times they seem like total strangers. When do you get to the point of being friends? What can you expect from them? They try to make the incomprehensible understandable. They confess, they are honest, they mourn, they lie. Things seem to go on forever, they get into a rut. Ultimately, it is temporality that they fear most.

Creation and performance: Alicia Andries and Robbe Vandenven

Text: Cleansed (Sarah Kane), The Birthday Party (Harold Pinter), Sylvia Plath, Alicia Andries and Robbe Vandenven

Thanks to: Mieja Hollevoet, Bauke Lievens, Simon De Winne, Carolina Maciel de França, Max Colonne, Jesse Vandamme, Robbe Meere, Alessia Liccardi, Bardia Mohammad and Jara Vlaeminckx

Reworked image: Aaron Johnson

Content warning: mention of suicide, violence

About In exile / في المنفى :

A figure tries to get hold of the routine that draws her life. The routine that cannot define neither her beginning nor her possible end.

صمت يميّز المساحة الملتفة

حول كينونة تلك الانسانة

كشال يحميها من عصف الرياح الباردة

حرارة تروي حنجرتها

فتسخن.

انت جزء من دائرة

تتغير أبعاد الأقطار داخلها

بتقلّصها أو تشعّبها

بقدر ما تسمح الظروف.

دائرة من خط لولبي

بدايته نقطة تقع عند بيت الجارة

يطوف حول البنايات والحدائق

ليعطف حدودها

محددا موقعها,

جذرها,

ونوع التربة,

رنين ايقاع اللغة,

نبرة الحديث,

وصدى الضحك أو الاندفاع.

ضحكت الحجارة تحت كفات قدميها

فوقعت.

صوّبت نظراتها اليّ

بعد أن دارت حول العالم

ومن الخارج الى الداخل

ابتسمت.

EN:

Stillness marks the space wrapped

around her being,

like a scarf that protects her from the blowing of the cold wind.

heat that hydrates her throat

so that she gets warm.

You are a part of a circle

in which its diameters change

by shrinking or spreading

according to what the conditions allow.

A spiral

where its beginning point is at the door of the neighbor

that roams around crossing all borders

specifies her location,

her root,

the type of earth,

the ringing of the melodic language,

the tone of speech,

and the echo of laughter or impulsiveness.

The stones giggled underneath her feet

and so she fell.

She shot her gaze at me

after she has toured the world around

and from outside to inside

she smiled.

Creation and performance: Marah Haj Hussein

With big thanks to: Mieja Hollevoet, Bauke Lievens, Simon De Winne, Carolina Maciel de França, Bardia Mohammad, Jara Vlaeminckx, Maria Zandvliet, Agnese Forlani, Fiene Zasada and Khadija El Kharraz Alami

Reworked image: Aaron Johnson

*with free contribution at the box office

*15 min. pause between performances