venizke - Centro Parraga

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CAMPO victoria.nieuwpoort.boma
NIEUWPOORT 31-35 . 9000 GENT . BELGIUM
T 00 32 9 223 00 00 . F 00 32 9 267 94 51 . WWW.CAMPO.NU [email protected]
VENIZKE
Ben Benaouisse & Lies Pauwels / CAMPO
1
Venizke and Victoria/CAMPO1
In the course of its history, Victoria has created numerous theatre productions with
experienced theatre-makers. Now Victoria/CAMPO has a permanent core of artists, all of
whom have won their spurs on the international scene and have worked in various ways
in the company on a whole range of projects and productions. Internally there have
been numerous instances of cross-pollination or collaboration as a result of mutual
inspiration and the fantasies that hover in the air. Group formation within this biotope is
therefore also one of the company’s hallmarks.
Collaboration has also on occasion been ‘forced’, whereby Victoria marked out the
guidelines for an artistic project. One of the best-known examples of this is the joining
of two artists with completely different artistic natures: the choreographer Alain Platel
and the theatre-maker Arne Sierens. Both have a completely different vision of both the
content and aesthetics of theatre. In 1993 Victoria brought these two individuals
together, resulting in the creation of the legendary trilogy Moeder en Kind, Bernadetje
and Allemaal Indiaan.
For Venizke, once again two very different theatre-makers have worked together.
However, this time the collaboration came about in a very different way. Lies Pauwels
and Ben Benaouisse have both helped to draft Victoria’s artistic programme and have in
various ways been very much involved with each other’s work: in Moeder en Kind they
appeared on stage together; Lies coached Latrinité’s performances; Ben was a dancer
within Lies’ first performance (Club Astrid); Ben helped Lies direct For all the wrong
reasons; etc. They feel the time has come to combine their divergent artistic visions,
theatre idiom and working methods, and to create a performance together.
One thing they do have in common, however, is that their performances are generated
by the actors and are born and developed in the rehearsal space. This method of work is
contrary to the way theatre is usually created. However, this does not mean that they
start the rehearsal process unprepared: the content framework is worked out in
advance so that the direction the performance takes is strictly defined.
Nevertheless we need to add something about Ben Benaouisse here. His methodology is
not immediately externally visible in his work. The last two years in particular have been
characterised by a quest to rehabilitate the performance, in which experimentation on
new expressive idioms was both the guiding principle and the instrument. Dissecting the
classical theatre idiom and replacing it with different forms of thinking and working (in
both content and form) have proved to be a highly effective starting point.
From another point of view this also applies to Lies Pauwels.
1
In January 2008, Victoria merged with Nieuwpoorttheater. Together they became a new
arts centre in Ghent, called CAMPO.
2
Venizke
The paths of Lies Pauwels (White Star, For all the wrong reasons) and Ben Benaouisse
(Het is Lam) have crossed several times in the past, both in and outside Victoria. They
appeared together in Alain Platel & Arne Sierens’ Moeder en Kind and have also drawn
each other into various productions and projects (Ben acted in Lies’ directing debut,
Club Astrid, Lies coached the productions by Latrinité, and Ben assisted in directing Lies’
last play, For all the wrong reasons). So it was high time to link up their various views
and theatre idioms, and also their shared fascinations, and to make a play together.
Their work does have several features in common. Their approach differs from the more
obvious ways of making plays. The performers are at the heart of the play and become
its starting point. The crucial role played by music is also a common feature. The music
is a conspicuous presence and is constantly setting the atmosphere on which the
performance moves forward.
For Venizke, Ben and Lies assembled an international cast: a combination of six
exceptional actors and dancers. They are ostensibly a group, but they exist and act
more alongside than with each other. They actively seek possible points of contact. And
pleasure too. There is dancing. And spoken words. There is a miniature Eiffel Tower.
And there is music, from the castrato Moreschi to the pop icon Amy Winehouse.
3
Venizke – an impression by Belgian writer and column writer Chris Van Camp
A Friday.
Early August.
Interim tryout of Venizke – CAMPO – Ghent.
I had spent an hour with my psychiatrist that morning. Happens often. Mostly talking, a
monologue. Not that I go ‘all the way’. Meaning lying down, staring at the ceiling and
prattling like in a Woody Allen film. No, I’ve come to an agreement with my shrink. We
hold meetings on the reform of what you might call my inner state. And there’s quite a
chance I shall exist longer than Belgium.
Does that startle you? Belgium’s imminent expiry date or my frank admission that I pay
someone to listen to me? You know, so many tormented, frustrated, traumatised,
terrorised, molested, fixated, corrupted, disillusioned and utterly crushed people seek
salvation in the auditory canal of professional listeners. Others content themselves with
the dilettantism of the audience and become… actors, dancers, singers or theatremakers.
Aren’t we all just poor souls in search of a wooden leg to stand on? Anyway.
The door at CAMPO is wide open. It’s fine weather, an assortment of furniture is
scattered randomly around the garden, a sure sign of long open-air evaluation sessions.
If there’s no roof the air can get to your brain. It is possible to philosophise endlessly
about such things as throwing out causal links between scenes, or arguing the
importance of language. Shunning the sun, I prefer the theatre. Plenty of time; it
doesn’t look as if anything is about to begin. Technicians on mobile hydraulic monster
machines claim the arena. They pour the sauce of light over the set. Reinforcement for
the bulbs around the mirrors and dressing tables, colour on the clothes racks larded
with glittery dresses. A miniature Eiffel Tower gives the whole thing the look of a pure
‘revue tristesse’. Peeling gilt, glitter with no gleam. Faded glory always was my thing.
Lies Pauwels makes the final feints for her performers. She seems to be speaking in
tongues. In such an international cast as this, a sort of argot soon takes shape, a
mixture of English, Dutch and French, which is also the language of communication for
this performance. The co-director and theatre-maker Ben Benaouisse doesn’t move
from the sound mixer.
I try to imagine what it must have been like during Ben and Lies’ self-imposed
quarantine. In the same way, I have no clue how two people can write a book together,
like Sjöwall and Wahlöö. Does one take over while the other goes to the loo? Do they
have shifts like on board ship? Or... do they come to a creative consensus after the
brainstorms have died down? Neither of them reveals what blueprint they ultimately
brought back to CAMPO victoria with them. Which makes me suspect that there is a
slight deviation from the course they had charted. I had read somewhere that they
worked ‘on the basis of the actors’. Shut up, Van Camp, shut up. I am plagued by an
elephant’s memory and remember almost verbatim the conversation I had with
Benaouisse when he started on his ‘répos du guerrier’ in The Bank. At that point he was
4
fed up with being milked by directors who arrived at the first day of rehearsals with a
blank page and fed off the brainwaves of their actors and dancers. I bite on my tongue
half a dozen times but then still can’t stop myself reminding him of what he had said.
He laughs. He hadn’t counted on my still dragging around such remnants of the past. He
charmingly admits defeat, demonically mentioning the nuance that he is now on the
other side of the fence. But no, no one was ‘milked’, Lies and he have given content,
guidance and feedback. I believe him, because the actors I had just spoken too were
very contented people. This was their thing.
The thing starts. Paris s’éveille... Three minutes can be a lifetime. Sloppy miming, the
performer as deceiver. Oddly enough I don’t feel cheated or betrayed. More like
complicit. That same morning I had go on at the shrink about the feeling of acting
myself as well as possible. Are your sound and image always perfectly in synch? Do you
never have that Wizard of Oz feeling, the sense that you will at any moment be
unmasked in all your measliness? People who are clever enough to play the psychiatrist
don’t have to answer questions like that.
The performance turned out to be one prolonged moment of humiliation. Zooming in on
the painful intimations of shame. I had never considered how unbearable the
combination of sadness and imposed sensuality can be. The pin-up girl’s routine is not
given any painted smile. The compere turns out to be the devil’s advocate and puts the
prestige of the entire cast so firmly into perspective that it makes the whole small world
of avant-garde theatre groan. The demolition of each of these egos gets under way,
disguised as party fun. And to cap it all, the death-wish is never far off, with
drunkenness or insanity as its herald... Je veux mourir sur scène. Aggression and
provocation sold as the will to live. Love me, restrain me, hold me tight and above all
keep your distance because I hate you, I hate your inability to understand me totally.
That’s how I imagine Babel. Not being able to be the way others judge you to be.
Nothing that ever is what it seems. The tragedy of the presentation of icons with the air
of a Dalida.
I’m glad there was no reading of predigested scenes and dialogues. This makes the
residue of a probably long and intensive production process extremely plausible. Where
language isn’t up to the job, music is used. Mostly kitsch, plastic through which gleams
the beauty of torment.
After the performance I make a quick getaway. Mainly because Lies’ small daughter, still
a toddler, walks into the theatre like a spark of hope in an absolute vale of tears. Stars
in the eyes, suspecting nothing of the reality awaiting her. I make a run for it, as if I
might have sullied her with my doom-mongering. On the drive home I increasingly see
it as a tour de force by the cast and crew and the ‘cockpit people’, Lies and Ben. I have
looked into the belly of a growing play. I am relieved. Even mythical beings in the magic
circle of the artistic cocoon are made of flesh, bullshit and pain. I suddenly feel very...
Dalida... dalila... lalala.
Chris Van Camp
(translated by Gregory Ball)
5
BIOGRAPHIES
LIES PAUWELS
Lies Pauwels (°1968, Ghent) is both a director and an actress.
She has worked closely with Alain Platel and Arne Sierens, and appeared in the trilogy
they made together for Victoria: Moeder en Kind, Bernadetje and Allemaal Indiaan. Over
the years she has also acted in numerous other Victoria productions including üBUNG,
Poes Poes Poes and Aalst, and in productions by various well-known artists and
companies such as Stella Den Haag, Tg STAN, Theater Klara (CH) and Het Toneelhuis.
Finally, she has also acted in films by Josse De Pauw, Dominique Deruddere, Felix Van
Groeningen and others, as well as being involved in television work.
Since 2001, Lies Pauwels has mainly concentrated on artistic creation. It was with a
group of friends that she directed her first play at Victoria, Club Astrid (2001), which
was an immediate international hit. She made her definitive international breakthrough
with her second production, White Star (2004), which was also awarded a prize for best
play at the festival in Torun (P). In 2007 Lies Pauwels was invited by the Manchester
International Festival and Contact Theatre to cast and direct a performance in
Manchester. The result, For all the wrong reasons, is now touring Europe and Singapore.
In all her productions Lies Pauwels works mainly with improvisation, even though it is
very much under control: “I know where I am headed and I get this back from people in
a roundabout way. I set them a task – you could call them ‘injections’ – and they work
with this and create the material I want to see.”
6
In between times, Lies Pauwels has done a considerable amount of coaching (e.g. for
the Latrinité dance performances) and given various workshops (Kulturhuset Stockholm,
Rote Fabrik Zürich, Espace des Arts Châlon-sur-Saone, etc.). Recently she has also
started teaching in theatre schools.
“Lies Pauwels is able to invest. She applies herself wholeheartedly – with great
diffidence, as she doesn’t want to do anything gratuitous – constantly testing her work
against her sense of whether ‘it is really right’, but with an extremely high risk factor.
She is not afraid of falling flat on her face. She is both vulnerable and tough and it is
very good if these two qualities come together in an artist.”
(Arne Sierens talking about Lies Pauwels)
“There are no moral absolutes here: it is both sweet and very nasty at the same time,
spectacularly silly and touchingly simple. It knows how to manipulate like a teasing child
and yet, at times, it presents its face to the world with trusting openness.”
(Lyn Gardner talking about Lies Pauwels’ latest production, For all the wrong reasons, in
The Guardian, 7th July 2007)
BEN BENAOUISSE
Theatre and Dance
In 1993 Victoria launched the Ja, wacht! youth project as part of Antwerp ’93 and at the
request of the King Baudouin Foundation. Auditions were held all over Belgium.
Mohamed ‘Ben’ Benaouisse (°1971) was one of the participants in Liège. He was
selected and came to Ghent. In 1994, a few months after the opening night of Ja,
wacht!, Ben participated in The Best Belgian Dance Solo at the first Victoria Festival. He
wan the second prize. Immediately afterwards Alain Platel invited him to perform as a
dancer and actor in the Victoria production Moeder en kind (1995).
7
In 1996, together with Helmut Van den Meersschaut and Noël Van Kelst, he founded the
dance trio Latrinité. This company started out at the second Victoria Festival as part of
‘Korstmos’, a platform for new young talent. This presentation later resulted in the
performance Dansé Donsé Dan Dan. Two more productions by the same company
followed: Auri Sacra Fames (1997) and Limbus Patrum (2000).
In the meantime Ben also worked as a dancer and choreographer in House of Bamboo
(1997, Huis a/d Werf, Utrecht) and as an actor in Lifestyle (1998, Victoria, directed by
Paul Carpentier). In 2001 he was asked to participate in Lies Pauwels’ first production,
Club Astrid (Victoria), and, together with the Latrinité team, created the residence
project Carte Blanche at L’aeronef in Lille. Ben surprised everyone with his moving
installation/performance Invasif. This resulted in Victoria giving him an Alexis-Dallière
fund so that he could continue his in-depth research. With this fund he created the
theatrical installation Het is Lam.
In 2003 he directed Mauricio Kagel’s Variété (a play for circus artists, produced by Oneoff) and worked as an actor and dancer in Scan, directed by Michel Schweizer (La Coma,
Bordeaux). A year later he appeared in Renaud Cojo’s Dernier spectacle avant
(ouverture) (2004, Ouvre Le Chien, Bordeaux). In that same year he also founded his
own company, Invasif, whose first production, the Multi Solo Provisoire dance solo
(conceived and performed by Benaouisse himself), opened in the summer of 2004
(Oerol Festival, Terschelling, NL / Gentse Feesten, Ghent).
The controversial production Het is Lam, (Victoria) had its première in 2005. In this
piece he linked together several diverse artistic disciplines (installation, performance,
video, dance, theatre, words, music, etc.), while avoiding what is usually regarded as
multidisciplinary. In January 2006 he presented No Production in Nieuwpoorttheater. In
2007 he danced in Bolero Variations by Raimund Hoghe.
Visual art and performance
The installation/performance Invasif (2001, Lille) during ‘Carte Blanche’ (the Latrinité
residency in Lille) was an important link in Ben’s artistic career. Here he took the first
important step towards more personal work, a mixture of theatre, performance and
installation. In the years that followed he set out an artistic trajectory in which he
increasingly manifested himself as a visual artist.
Invasif is a research based on Benaouisse’s personal life. He catalogues, takes stock of
and structures a large collection of objects, writing, videos, photos, sounds, movements
and memories in a ‘total installation’. He regards Invasif as a quest in various stages.
Each stage is specifically created for and in the ‘performance location’.
The controversial Invasif II exhibition, whose programme also included various
performances, was held in the Caermersklooster in Ghent in 2002. In that same year a
modified version of this installation, Invasif III, was presented at De Brakke Grond in
Amsterdam. Here too the exhibition formed the backdrop for several live performances
(as part of the European Urban Theatre Festival).
In 2003 Benaouisse was invited to participate in the Oerol Festival in Terschelling, with
Invasif IV. Integrated into the landscape of the island, this work included his version of
8
Mecca, which he erected in the middle of a football field. In Ben’s Mecca the spectators
witnessed a confrontation between his interpretation of the Van Eyck brothers’ The
Lamb of God and a video recording of the Heizel drama. On this same field he also
presented a performance in the form of a football match/show with its own modified
rules.
Invasif Terminal (June 2004, Arras, at the Sacrés belges III festival) was the fifth and
till now last Invasif.
In addition to the various Invasifs, Benaouisse is regularly invited to participate in group
exhibitions, etc.: he created the installation entitled être sur la paille for the ‘Morocco
Today’ exhibition (2003, Turnhout), and participated in exhibitions such as ‘Neverland’
(2003, Arnhem), ‘Interférences’ (2004, Amiens) and ‘[59°54’49’’N – 10°43’44’’E]
Meeting Point’ (2006, Oslo). In 2005 he presented the State of Povera installation in
Nieuwpoorttheater (Ghent) as well as the performance series Soirées talibanes and
Open-ba(a)r-theater.
The Bank
In 2006-2007 Ben Benaouisse was one of the six artists of The Bank, a working
structure within Victoria that enables artists to develop their artistic course over a
period of two years. Amongst other things, he created the dance performance Katrina,
The Residents, did various performances and acts, created installations and wrote a lot,
etc. He also twice organised ‘Fondamenta’, an independent platform focusing on the
medium of performance.
Diverse
Ben also gave numerous workshops (at the Contact Theatre in Manchester, Lausanne,
etc.), created artistic interventions both at home and abroad (such as the performance
as part of ‘Secret Gardens’ (2002, Kortrijk), Time Festival, etc.), participated in
numerous projects and regularly published written work.
CAST
Lara Barsacq (°1974, F) studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et
de Danse de Paris. She danced in Batsheva Dance Company (choreographer: Ohad
Naharin). Lately she danced with Jean-Marc Heim and Alias Company. Recently she
performed in The show must go on by Jérôme Bel. Apart from her own work, she also
created choreographies for, among others, Batsheva Dance Company.
9
François Brice (°1968, F) studied at the National Center of Contemporary Dance in
Angers, and followed various workshops (Rosas, Meg Stuart,…). He danced in several
performances by Wim Vandekeybus (Her body doesn’t fit her soul, Mountains made of
barking, What the body doesn’t remember, Bereft of a blissful union), Sam Louwyck,
Michèle Noiret, Philippe Blanchard, Giorgio Barberio Corsetti/Fatou Traoré,… He
performed in various films by Wim Vandekeybus, Martine Doyen, Michael Roskam,… As
a choreographer he also created his own work (eg. Miraflores locks).
Sylvia Camarda (°1978, L) studied at the London Contemporary Dance School and
followed various workshops and courses in the USA and Belgium. She performed in,
among many others, Just another landscape for some jukebox money (Koen
Augustijnen/Les Ballets C. de la B.), Delirium by Cirque du Soleil and various
productions by Jan Fabre/Troubleyn (Je suis sang, Requiem für eine Metamorphose, I
am a mistake). She played in various films by Andy Bausch and Chantal Akerman. She
has her own company in Luxembourg, called Missdeluxedanceco!
Benny Claessens (°1981, B) studied at Studio Herman Teirlinck in Antwerp (B). He
appeared in many productions in Belgium and The Netherlands, by Het Toneelhuis
(directed by Josse De Pauw, Luk Perceval,…), Theater Antigone, Ultima Vez (Puur),
Bronks/JAN, Het Paleis and Dood Paard. He has his own company Eisbär, played in
different movies (eg. Here after and Puur by Wim Vandkeybus) and videoclips, and also
did important television work (eg. Het Geslacht De Pauw, a series by Woestijnvis).
10
Ilse de Koe (°1984, B) graduated in 2007 at Conservatorium Ghent (B). After her
studies she performed in productions by several Flemish theatre companies (Het Paleis,
Bronks and 4Hoog).
Ans Van den Eede (°1986, B) graduated in June 2008 at RITS in Brussels (B). During
her studies she worked with several Flemish theatre-makers. Last year she played in AN
by the Brussels theatre company Tristero.
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CREDITS
Concept & direction: Ben Benaouisse & Lies Pauwels
With: Lara Barsacq, François Brice, Sylvia Camarda, Benny Claessens, Ilse de Koe &
Ans Van den Eede
Scenography & light concept: Helmut Van den Meersschaut
Realisation costumes: An Breugelmans
Realisation audiotape: Dimsound
Artistic co-ordination: Marika Ingels
Production management: Wim Clapdorp
Technical management: Bart Huybrechts & Anne Meeussen
Production assistance: Nele De Sloover
Tour management: Leen De Broe
Sales management: Kristof Blom
Production: CAMPO (B)
Co-production: Zürcher Theater Spektakel (CH), La Bâtie, Festival de Genève (CH), La
Filature, Scène nationale - Mulhouse (F), La Rose des Vents, Villeneuve d’Ascq (F)
Thanks to: Kostuumatelier NTGent, Atento
Image/Picture: Mathilde Geens & © Phile Deprez
Fratersplein 7
Nieuwpoort 31-35
Bomastraat 35
9000 Gent
T 0032(0)9 223 00 00
www.campo.nu
Pictures:
You can download high resolution pictures on www.campo.nu/pers
Login: pers
Paswoord: camponupress
Click on the button above: PERS and scroll down
Please do mention the photographer © Phile Deprez.
More information:
Mui-Ling Verbist
[email protected]
T 00 32 (0)9 267 10 12
12

venizke - Centro Parraga

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