From a wish to share theatre anchored in reality with people who are so often distanced from it, director Johan Simons, along with percussionist Paul Koek, established the Dutch company Theatergroep Hollandia in 1985. In 2001, it became the ZT Hollandia. On farms, in disused factories, football stadia or car dumps, the ensemble of a dozen actors has forged a direct, critical and musical form of stagecraft. Their productions are based on either classical tragedies or contemporary texts and have made a place for themselves not only in The Netherlands but all over northern Europe.
Deux voix (Two Voices)
At the end of a dinner party where the wine has been flowing freely, a group of high society folk inebriated by their very own selves, converse on the fate of humanity, and as the evening wears on, they reveal the hidden face of a world about to be conquered by a thirst for total power. One by one, a well-established politician, the vice-president of an oil firm, an intellectual in the pay of the businessman, a mafia go-between, an agent whose job is to make contact with the church authorities, all take their turn to speak in a sort of decadent waltz. Inspired by the work of Pier Paolo Pasolini, a work in which the author of Theorem felt he could “take over reality”, written as a synopsis in the language of multinationals, these “two voices” are in fact a polyphonic arrangement of complex and corrupt characters - a portrait gallery of the slovenly masters of the world, played by one single actor. Jeroen Willems, the leading actor from the Dutch company, Hollandia, plays an astounding game of musical chairs, to carry off all the roles in this social satire. Monologues and personal change go deep into the heart of the conflict of interests in a vipers nest where Cor Herkströter, the former chair of the board of Shell International is easily recognisable, and through him, all those involved in oil and financial scandals. The play has already been performed in several countries, it's the first time Jeroen Willems is performing in French, and in France
Distribution
translation Johan Simons et ZT Hollandia
cast : Jeroen Willems
adaptation : Tom Blokdijk
dramaturg : Tom Blokdijk, Paul Slangen
french translation : Monique Nagielkopf
scenography : Johan Simons, Piet Hein Eek (chairs)
Production
production : ZT Hollandia
coproduction : Festival d'Avignon
avec le soutien : du Royaume des Pays-Bas à l'occasion de la présidence néerlandaise de l'Union européenne
© photo Ben van Duin