Unrepeatable experience that goes beyond language, borders and censorship

Thanks to his international hit White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, playwright Nassim Soleimanpour became one of the world's most famous political prisoners. Because he was not allowed to leave his native country Iran, Soleimanpour always let a local actor -a new one for each show- perform his play. The actors, from Tom Lanoye over Kevin Spacey and Joyce DiDonato to Stephen Fry and Whoopi Goldberg were only permitted to read the text when they were facing the public. The play was performed in more than twenty languages. 

Soleimanpour's new work NASSIM perforce continues the success formula. World-wide Soleimanpour's text is waiting in a sealed box for a different performer who gets to see it for the first time. The choice of the performer of that evening is as much a surprise as is the theatre text for the performer himself. In the familiar tone and a strong upbeat tempo, NASSIM touches on an important theme : how does it feel to live as a fugitive ? The performance, which premièred at the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival is both autobiographic and universal. A bold enterprise that illustrates how language can at the same time divide us and bring us together. And proof that good art outsmarts any censorship.

Since his first play White Rabbit, Red Rabbit  premièred, Nassim Soleimanpour has acquired world-wide fame as a theatre maker. Soleimanpour has been awarded several prizes at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and won the prize for the best theatre play at the Dublin Fringe Festival of 2012. Meanwhile the playwright also made Blind Hamlet, in which     he confronts himself with his loss of sight and the fact that he has never read Shakespeare's Hamlet. His last performance BLANK pursues the success formula of his debut : this time a theatre text is finished live on stage by a writer, a performer and the public. Starting point is the life story of someone in the audience.

“Entertaining, ingeniously thought-provoking and fully heart-warming.” – Daily Telegraph

Free buss:
* 22/11: Departure at 19u45 from Kortrijk