He describes himself simply as "a theatre-doer, a handyman." Writer-director, Arne Sierens lives in Ghent, in Belgium. He grew up in a workers' area, and his stage work still has close ties with the street and the realities there. For this director, what is most interesting are the stories of everyday lives, and as he does not like the expression "theatre of the people", he prefers to say that he stages "plays about wounded people who keep going in spite of everything." His is a truly generous type of theatre. His method is atypical as are his opinions and Arne Sierens's work stems from improvisations with actors which he calls sampling. All sorts of investigations and interviews are carried out as a preamble to every new piece and enrich the text, theatrical play and staging. At a regular rate of one play per year, Arne Sierens has created and directed a number of plays such as Pas Tous les Marocains sont des Voleurs (2001) et Martino (2003) and he has also worked with others such as director Johan Dehollander and choreographer Alain Platel, Mère et Enfant (1995), Bernadetje (1996), Tous des Indiens (1999) He uses all sorts of artistic references - cinema, dance, song, animation, circus – in his search for an alchemistic mix between movement and music, which are always crossed with folk culture. Arne Sierens' type of theatre is first and foremost about emotion and humanity.
Arne Sierens puts three characters on stage, all of them have biblical first names and they are all the more surprising in that they have no outstanding features. They are so ordinary that the world might even overlook them. The director from Ghent in Belgium turns this holy trinity into a play for today. A tender, amusing and truculent painting of those left out of the world of liberalism, and who we find three floors below ground in the basement of a shopping centre. The stage setting, a floor that has iced over, makes the performers fragile. In this shopping centre lives Michel Le Boiteux (Michel Limp-Along, the caretaker). With him are two friends, Gabriel le frimeur (Gabriel Show-Off) and Marie, known as Mimi la Souillon (Mimi Ragbag) and who is the title character. Her job is a strange one, she's a "cliniclown". It is perhaps a vocation, helping patients in hospital. Wherever she goes, shes bring comfort, but she too has her secrets. Ultimately, these are simple folk who have things to get off their chests – suffering, dreams, pain, a stock of little lies which help them to keep their heads above the surface and so many bigger hidden feelings. In this curious nest in the basement, cosy in the privacy of their conversation – in the company of a fourth actor, a very odd Holy Spirit, a parrot called Coco -, words fuse, sharpen on emotions, on the everyday stuff of life and find unexpected expressions, outline surrealist scenes, sometimes crude and often burlesque where lots of petty stories are told. There is much love and concern for other people in the theatre of truth, both poetic and ritualistic, that interests Arne Sierens.
Distribution
Un spectacle de : Arne Sierens, Titus De Voogdt, Johan Heldenbergh, Marijke Pinoy
cast : Titus De Voogdt, Johan Heldenbergh, Marijke Pinoy, un perroquet
Traduction : Monique Nagielkopf
Scenography : Guido Vrolix
Diction : Didier De Neck
Production
Avec le soutien : de la Communauté flamande et du ministre de la Culture Bert Anciaux
Production : DASTHEATER (Gand), Theater Zuidpool (Anvers)
En partenariat avec : le Centre d'arts Vooruit (Gand)