Old Flemish songs (Singhet ende weset vro), a classic pure and simple (Biedermann en de brandstichters), newspaper cuttings and television images (Revue)… the director Ruud Gielens likes to vary his sources. In his new production, together with the writer and actor Jeroen Perceval, he lets five young beatboxers/rappers loose on Paul Van Ostaijen and kindred writers of expressionist inter-war literature. The title Bezette Stad (Occupied city) refers to Van Ostaijen’s famous collection of poetry in which he sketches a picture of the occupation of Antwerp during World War I. His poems straddle the line between optimistic humanism and sinister nihilism, a duality which is also clearly perceptible in the year 2009. Using beatbox and rap – from the point of view of rhythm and expression a worthy equivalent to Van Ostaijen’s writing – the young artists question the ‘occupation’ of their own world and thrash out a vision of their modern ‘occupied city’.

Production in Dutch subtitles Fr

K.V.S
€ 10 > € 16