BOY

Ten-year-old Boy is sitting in the classroom when suddenly police come and pick him up. He doesn't know why. He only knows that he can't go home anymore because he lives in a 'distressing situation'. This is the starting shot of an avalanche of legal, medical and emotional arguments each of which have their impact on the boy. In a sweltry montage the spectator witnesses a series of great and small events that will define Boy's destiny.

As a whole the case of Boy is fictitious but it is based on a hundred truths. For months theatre maker Kyoko Scholiers immersed herself in the world of child welfare : she interviewed juvenile court judges, consultants, foster families, child psychiatrists, educators, adults who look back on their assistance track, children who are staying in an institution and their parents. She attended lawsuits, visited tens of institutions and worked as a volunteer in a community of 'placed' children.

How does it affect somebody to grow up without the basis of a safe nest ? Where is the boundary of loyalty to the parents ? And can you escape from your own background ?  Kyoko Scholiers shows a burningly relevant reality in a quirky musical theatre performance with a top cast. Joris Blanckaert has composed a special soundscape that is rendered live by the children's choir of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen and HERMESensemble.

Kyoko Scholiers is an artist, a theatre maker and an actress. She has worked together with important theatre houses such as tg STAN and Antigone and acted in films such as Anyway the wind blows and De hel van Tanger. Her recent theatre work can be characterised as journalistic and examines human fragility and resilience and the impact of time on Man.

The introduction of the show by Kyoko Scholiers herself