come kitty cat
come here kitty
...
kitty?
…
kittttyyyyyyy?
In aai a lonely old man seeks comfort in the objects that surround him.
People pass by, but who is real?
He doesn’t remember where he is, when or why he is.
Did the lamp just wave at him?
And did the carpet sneeze?
Aiaiaai.
Poor old man.
Fortunately, it’s not all gloom and doom.
In his loneliness man is also
hilarious,
moving
and magical.
For aai Femke Stallaert dived into the characters her grandfather with dementia saw during the last years of his life. aai became a wordless masked performance in which everyday objects come to life.
It’s a carrousel of loneliness full of estranged family and imaginary friends. A spiritual ode to man's loneliness and infinite imagination!
Winner of BEST PERFORMANCE at the International BOZE WOLF Puppet Theatre Festival 2024.
"DE MAAN continues to rise. Congratulations on this production in which the unique initially seems strange, but then magically becomes universal and gives the imagination the power it possesses. [...] The masks, the costumes, the living puppets, the surprise effects in the lighting... They are, as it were, three-dimensional images that come out of a magic lantern. A warm and layered performance in which content and form are one." (from the jury report)
Press:
"Director Femke Stallaert turns a trembling old man in his armchair, close to death, into a compelling celebration of the human imagination by bringing his entire room to life. She shows puppet theatre at its best. [...] If theatre claims to appeal to all ages, then this performance is living proof of that." (Wouter Hillaert – Pzazz)
CREDITS:
Acting: Kazanga Jonathan Linga, Benjamin Mouchette and Tomas Pevenage
Directing: Femke Stallaert
Music design: Kazanga Jonathan Linga
Artistic advice: Greet Jacobs and Gorges Ocloo
Creation objects, masks, costumes: Paul Contryn, Katinka Heremans and Benjamin Mouchette
Production: DE MAAN
Coproduction: Perpodium, with the support of the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Government and Cronos Invest
