The Quest

At the juncture of stand-up, the absurd and existential drama, Cédric Eeckhout obsessively singles out the similarities that unite his fate with that of the entire continent, politically and economically; he joins the great historical currents with the footnotes. According to him, the important dates in his life correspond oddly with important episodes in the history of United Europe. Even his initials play the game: CE!

On one hand we have his story, a forty year old actor looking for eternal love, marked from a young age by the separation of his Walloon mother and his Flemish father. And on the other hand, the European Union whose foundations could crack, threatened by the rise of nationalism.

During his monologue he dwells on Europe’s fragmentation and questions the ambivalent effects of Neoliberalism. He touches on his origins: he is the result of a union between someone from the north and someone from the south of Belgium, which after 18 years resulted in a divorce. Will the European Union suffer a better fate? Presenting himself as a 21^st century knight errant clad in protective armor, he is accompanied in his quest by his mom and his cat named Jesus.

Together they went to the Netherlands, Sweden and Hungary, but also Flanders and Wallonia, sharing his reflections on family and Europe. They interviewed key people in the future of Europe, intellectuals, politicians, artists and also regular citizens and even members of his own family.

How did the project come into being?

"The main idea came from the fact that I worked with several European directors on the theme of Europe. In each of these projects, we did a lot of improvisation on this theme and we also talked a lot about ourselves, especially with Falk Richter who often uses the lives of his actors in his writing. It was his playwright, Jens Hilje (current director of the Gorki theater in Berlin, and former co-director of Thomas Ostermeier at the Schaubhune) who sug - gested that I try to write or to do a show in the form of stand-up. It got me thinking and I said to myself that I would like to work on Europe while talking about myself too. In fact, the idea of making con - nections between my personal and political life came to me quite quickly and amused me: that my crisis of being single in need of a healthy and balanced relationship (a union), could have links with the crises that Europe has been going through since 2008."

Why stand-up?

"First, because during my research on this practice, I discovered that American stand-ups were often very depressed, and that currently, most clubs had a psychiatrist on staff, or an accompanist for their performers. So I thought that was the most natural way to talk about a contemporary existential crisis. And then, it’s because this form offers a possibility of direct dialogue with the public, which is the main partner. And finally, because it is about perfor - mance. It's something of a scary challenge and I need to be scared to work."

— The entire interview with Cédric Eeckhout is available in the artistic folder

Download

Tnwb dossier diffusion 19-20 - the quest en 2022 PDF 820.5 kB

Cast

Writing and directing
Cédric Eeckhout

With the partnership of
Douglas Grauwels

Dramaturgy
Nils Haarmann

Costumes and set design
Laurence Hermant

Light design
Emily Brassier

With
Cédric Eeckhout
Douglas Grauwels
Jo Libertiaux

Direction assistante
Eulalie Roux

English language consulting editor
Daisy Phillips

Translation, transcription, surtitles
Isabelle Grynberg
Tineke de Meyer
Lola Chuniaud
Pulse Translations
Christopher Smith
Francis Smith
Valérie De Heyn
Valentine De Luca

Video Editing
Dimitri Petrovic

Stage manager
Romain Gueudré

Video direction & light
Ludovic Desclin

Sound operator
Pawel Wnuczinsky

Stage director & surtitles
Pierre Ottinger

Création Studio Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles

Production
Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles

Co-production
Riksteatern, Les Théâtres de la ville du Luxembourg, Mars - Mons arts de la scène, L’Ancre - Théâtre Royal, Grand Théâtre / Noorderzon, Trafó Budapest, Centro Dramático Nacional (INAEM) La Coop asbl et Shelter Prod.

With the support of
Taxshelter.be, ING et du Tax Shelter du gouvernement fédéral belge

Une étape de travail a été créée lors du Festival XS 2017 au Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles

Special thanks to
R.Lang, A.Romano, F. Denis, A De Vestele, M. Godichaux, FIND Festival 2017, NEST - CDN Thionville Lorraine, Le Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne, La Comédie de Reims, La Criée - Théâtre National de Marseille, Le Lieu Unique, Maison de l’Histoire Européenne.

Nous remercions les équipes des théâtres qui nous ont accueilli lors des différentes résidences en Europe entre avril 2019 et février 2020 ainsi que les 85 personnes qui ont accepté d’être interviewées pour ce projet.

Costumes and set design
Ateliers du Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles

Download

Touring

Information

Cast