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Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles

Le Dîner

Jean-Michel Frère - Cie Victor B

15 > 19.12.2020
Theatre

Part Festen, part A Clockwork Orange, the family dinner will not go off as planned. Two brothers and their spouses get together in an upscale restaurant. Serge, a politician destined for great things, and Paul, retired history professor who is very critical of his brother’s thirst for power. What brings them together: an unmentionable act committed by their two sixteen-year-old sons.

How far can one go to protect one’s children? That is the key question of Dutch author Herman Koch’s novel Le Dîner which Jean-Michel Frère chose to adapt. The play examines the characters beyond appearances, searches the conscience, calls forth the roots of the violence with an especially theatrical device: a closed world cut into 5 acts, with a progressive structure and a deconstructed narrative. No classic restaurant scene but an engagement of the audience to get it questioning itself, to discover, through concentric circles the magnitude of the drama. With a virtuosic language and with razor sharp dialogues Le Dîner is a mirror through which we recognize our daily irritations and our most cruel dilemmas.

Calendar

  • - 20:45
  • - 20:15
  • - 20:45
  • - 20:45
  • - 20:45

Information

Language

FR

Venue

Studio

Duration

85’

Cast

From 
Het Diner de Herman Koch (Ambo/Anthos Uitgever B.V.)

Translated from Dutch by
Isabelle Rosselin 

Adapation & Direction 
Jean-Michel Frère 

With 
Lara Persain 
Nicolas Buysse 

Digital artists 
Superbe (Gaël Bertrand & Gaëtan Libertiaux) 

Scenography 
Justine De Mesmaeker 

Sound 
Sébastien Courtoy 

Video direction & lights 
Gwen Laroche 

A project of
Compagnie Victor B.

Co-production
Le Théâtre de Namur

Sets construction
Ateliers du Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Ateliers du Théâtre de Namur

© Gloria Scorier