Night has fallen in the West,

no morning star rises,

it is dark now, a Nightland –

In this performance, Jolente De Keersmaeker, Damiaan De Schrijver, and Frank Vercruyssen reunite on stage after a long time, alongside Roos De Graeve, Bert Haelvoet, and Scarlet Tummers.

Germany. Today. Nicola and Philipp, with their respective partners, are clearing out their recently deceased father’s house. When they find an old painting hidden in the attic, the fun begins. The tableau depicts a street scene from Vienna in the 1920s, painted by a certain… Adolf Hitler.

With unapologetic and relentless glee, Von Mayenburg plunges us into the swamp of beliefs, good intentions, and questionable reasoning in which we all desperately try to keep our heads above water…

In short.

An irresponsible comedy.

Or something like that.

A Nightland.

From December 3rd to 20th, we will present the French version of About Elly, our 2023 adaptation of the eponymous film by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, at the CDN (Centre Dramatique National) in Nanterre-Amandiers.

A company of eleven actors, from different generations and backgrounds—Iraqi, Iranian, Dutch, Belgian, and Afghan—will perform a play about doubt, friendship, honor, and betrayal.

Together with the team from the CDN Nanterre-Amandiers, we will also organize several side events centered on the work of Asghar Farhadi and TG STAN.

In collaboration with the University of Paris-Nanterre and La Sorbonne, we are organizing two workshops and a series of conversations before and after the performances in which we will discuss the relationship between the West and artistic production in the Arab and Persian worlds, not shying away from sensitive topics such as cultural appropriation and orientalism.

Khatoon Faroughi, a dramaturge from Tehran and currently a student at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (ENS), and Yassaman Khajehi, an Iranian lecturer and professor of theater studies at the University of Clermont-Auvergne, will be closely involved in this framework.

Asghar Farhadi himself will also be in Paris during in that period, where he is filming the final scenes of his latest film. He could not yet confirm whether he will have time to attend our performance or to have a conversation with the audience, but he has promised us that he will come if he can.

© Kurt Van Der Elst

After a run of 12 sold-out performances of Que Sera Sera at the Théâtre du Rond-Point in Paris, Damiaan De Schrijver and Bert Haelvoet will take a short break at home before heading off with fresh energy to Théâtre-Sénart in Lieusaint (performances on October 1, 2 and 3) and to the Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand (on October 9 and 10).

Until September 28 Jolente De Keersmaeker and Robby Cleiren are performing Recommencer Ce Monde at MC93, Paris-Bobigny, where they share the stage with an eleven-year-old girl to tell a story based on the work of Baptiste Morizot and Estelle Zhong Mengual. The performance will also be presented in Chambéry (October 2 and 3) and in Caen (October 14, 15 and 16).

Meanwhile, rehearsals are underway for the French-language version of About Elly, which will be staged for three weeks in December at the Théâtre des Amandiers, Nanterre. Work is also about to begin on zij en hij (she and he), a production by Ibtissam Boulbahaiem and Noa Tambwe Kabati, supported by TG STAN, which will premiere in December at Monty Antwerp.

©Tim Wouters