From Binche to Aalst, Manah Depauw has immersed herself in the world of processions and other mass rituals, all cultural practices temporarily inverting the social order and blurring the dividing line between good and evil.
The director also takes as her starting point cosmological stories that confront man’s ancestral fears by summoning up lost paradises that are without morality. But why do communities feel the need to stage their fear? Are they invoking occult powers just to be able to expel them more easily? Depauw is fascinated by the fragile balance between madness and possession, simulation and acting. In her quest for a primordial Eden, she draws from mythology, carnival and folklore: inexhaustible sources of inspiration for the masks, costumes and iconography running through her latest work. She conceives her Eden Central as a deep jungle, a world of science fiction where people attempt to get away from savagery to attain civilization. Ultimately, to become human beings...
Concept & directing: Manah Depauw. Assistance: Hans Bryssinck. With: Soetkin Demey, François De Jonge, Nicolas Delalieux, Jessica Batut, Blaise Ludik. Light design and scenography: Raphael Rubbens. Soundscape: Manah Depauw, Maxime Bodson. Concept and realisation costumes: Manah Depauw, Cathy Weyders, Ada Rajszys, Cathy Peraux. Presentation: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Les Brigittines. Production: Margarita Production for The Other vzw. Coproduction: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, WEB 3.5. (Kunstencentrum Buda (Kortrijk), Kunstencentrum Vooruit (Ghent), wp Zimmer (Antwerp), Le Vivat (Armentières), Frascati Productions (Amsterdam), BIT Teatergarasjen (Bergen), Black Box Teater (Oslo). In partnership with: Les Brigittines (Brussels), STUK Kunstencentrum (Leuven), Teaterhuset Avant Garden (Trondheim), Centre Pompidou (Metz). Supported by: Vlaamse Overheid, Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie.