A bunch of magic boxes, stars, music, a house, shadows, doors that open and close again.
A house, shadows, doors that open and close again. Benjamin Verdonck is the sceneshifter who sets the images in motion, only to become lost within them. A children’s song, accompanied live on stage by two musicians, Bram Devens (Ignatz/en de stervende honden) and Tomas De Smet (Think of One, Zita Swoon, King Dalton,…)
The unresolved tension between the charm of the miniature theatre and stories about the slow disaster of growing up in a confusing world makes Liedje voor Gigi deeply moving.
"Liedje voor Gigi is an ode to open-mindedness, to discovery and fantasy, and the happiness you can derive from a moment with a child. An ode to an "ordinary" moment, in fact, which Verdonck turns into something special."
"And while the blues guitars (in the spirit of Bill Frisell) and Verdonck’s stories rock us to and fro, the hypnotizing can begin, with geometric figures that keep falling apart in front of our eyes and being reassembled again through the movements of the strings in the cabinet of curiosities."
"Meanwhile, Verdonck operates the panels and bolts of a miniature theatre in which new perspectives and vistas continually arise. Nothing is what it seems in this peep show/magic box: an endless ballroom vanishes into a black hole; a red surface becomes an illusion of the Big Bang. It’s a constant coming and going of colours, shapes and light, pulling you in like a Mark Rothko painting. You give yourself over to Verdonck’s unhurried magic."
"Liedje voor Gigi is a show in which you can lose yourself, surrender yourself for an hour to the gentle nudges of words and images and then tumble like a child in multiple perspectives. And forget about the adult world for a while – after all, it will be waiting."
"‘We are invited to step into another dimension here. All you have to do is give yourself over to the brittle voice of the artist who, often hidden in the shadow of his box, talks about his everyday life. The versatile artist addresses both himself and his audience the same time, and he accompanies the subtle dance of his objects with anecdotes full of memories. The intimate stories that he tells, sings or sometimes even whispers, swing back and forth between humour, social consciousness and a questioning of the apparent simplicity of daily life."
"For his minimalistic performance Liedje voor Gigi – a little under 50 minutes long – he knocks together a magic box with little doors that slide open by pulling strings. Each new door reveals another dimension in the box; doors keep opening so that you can see further and further into the horizon. The lighting makes it an extraordinary viewing experience that gives illusions of depth and movement."
by and with
- Benjamin Verdonck
music
- Bram Devens
- Tomas De Smet
dramaturgy
- Sven Roofthooft
set
- Benjamin Verdonck
- Lucas van Haesbroeck
light design
- Lucas van Haesbroeck
costumes
- Filip Eyckmans
production
- Toneelhuis
- Toneelhuis
with the support of
- Tax Shelter maatregel v/d Belgische Federale Overheid
- Casa Kafka Pictures Tax Shelter powered by Belfius