Two thousand years ago, Ovid wrote Metamorphoses, an absolute masterpiece of classical culture. The fascinating stories in which characters transformed into stones, water or animals still leave their marks today. Also on Manuela Infante, one of the great figures of Chilean theatre. With Ovid she shares a fascination for transformation, which she also showed in her previous play Estado Vegetal : not only man had a voice there, plants also played a determining part on stage.

But who exactly is subject to metamorphosis in Metamorphoses ? It often appears to be the woman who -after being molested by pushy men or gods- goes through such a transformation. Sexual violence and transgressive behaviour seem like a leitmotiv in the book. From a contemporary view the Metamorphoses are the story of a radical patriarchal society. So they do need a transformation.

Today Infante reads in the Metamorphoses a story about the porosity of animal species and genera, between things and creatures. Who defines what is human and what not ? Is man really the centre of the world around him, which is so often reduced to passive scenery ? Flanked by Michael De Cock, director of the Brussels KVS, Infante gives an original and enlightening view on crucial developments in our society via classical literature.

COPRODUCTION
Dans le cadre de la Coopération culturelle transfrontalière entre la Communauté flamande et la Région Hauts-de-France.

Programmation outside the walls of La rose des vents in Roubaix