Compassie. De geschiedenis van het machinegeweer (Compassion. The history of the machinegun)

Images of drowned people, washed ashore on Mediterranean beaches. Of victims of civil war. Of disease in Central Africa. They are an unremitting presence on our Facebook timelines, on TV, and in the press. We place a crying smiley beneath a picture of one catastrophe, while we flick past another. A third stays etched into our minds and a fourth sets a relief convoy in motion.

Theatre maker Milo Rau [Bern, 1977] refuses to turn a blind eye. Travelling to hotbeds in the Middle East and Congo he has talked to relief workers, priests and war victims. It led to his incisive play Compassie. De geschiedenis van het machinegeweer. Actresses Els Dottermans [B] and Olga Mouak [F] take their audience to the limits. Of the country. Of compassion. Of discomfort.

Milo Rau, the brand new artistic director of NTGent, is no stranger to disconcerting an audience. He did it in Five Easy Pieces, which showed seven children and one grownup reconstruct the life of Marc Dutroux. In the highly relevant double monologue Compassie. De geschiedenis van het machinegeweer Rau once again proves his work has the force of a hammer. He wields it with care. Dealing blows so lovingly they hurt.

Dutch premiere | new adaption of the production that Milo Rau made for Schaubühne Berlin in 2016.

Played in Dutch and French, with Dutch surtitles.

Article Knack 25-07 (Dutch)

regie: Milo Rau
performance: Els Dottermans and Olga Mouak

This performance can be booked in combination with hetpaleis | Miet Warlop – Big Bears Cry Too for Friday 3 August. Select one of these two performances and the combiticket option is offered.