Schizophrenic revolving door comedy about idolatry.
“The real Philip Seymour Hoffman would have adored acting in this little game of identities” (BRUZZ)
Philip Seymour Hoffman, par exemple is a play about stardom and the boundaries of idolatry. The Brussels collective Transquinquennal and the Argentinian dramatist Rafael Spregelburd joined hands to examine how dependent we are on icons.
Why do we need icons anyway ? And why do we hitch our identity on to actors : people who continually change identity in their job ? Maybe we all do that...
The play isn't necessarily about Philip Seymour Hoffman but his ghost is never far away. Starting point of the performance is this one anecdote of the Hunger Games producers who -after Hoffman's death in 2014- toyed with the idea to clone him digitally for the next sequel. Is this healthy ? And do you then make an avatar of the person or of the personage.
Rafael Spregelburd wrote a cracker of a text that is both rooted in the post-modern character of South-American literature – think : mirrors, look-alikes and story lines that run through and over each other – and in a visual feeling for scenes.
After the much cheered La Estupidez this is the second collaboration between him and the brave theatre innovators of Transquinquennal : a schizophrenic revolving door comedy that honours the ironic disposition of both parties.
In 2012 Transquinquennal was already at NEXT Artsfestival with Let's Religion, a cooperation with the artist duo Simona Denicolai & Ivo Provoost.
TEXT Rafael Spregelburd TRANSLATION IN FRENCH Daniel Loayza DIRECTING BY Transquinquennal WITH Bernard Breuse, Miguel Decleire, Manon Joannotéguy, Stéphane Olivier, Mélanie Zucconi TECHNICAL DIRECTION Fred Op de Beeck SCENOGRAPHY & COSTUMS Marie Szersnovicz LIGHTS Giacomo Gorini SOUND Jean-François Lejeune, Raymond Delepierre VIDEO Arié Van Egmond CONSTRUCTIONS Fred Op de Beeck, Pierre Ottinger, De Muur MANAGEMENT Brigitte Neervoort ASSISTANT DIRECTION Judith Ribardière ILLUSTRATIONS Stéphane De Groef PRODUCTION Transquinquennal COPRODUCTION Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Théâtre Varia, Théâtre de Namur, Théâtre de Liège et Mars – Mons arts de la scène dans le cadre du 4A4
