Valentijn Dhaenens - BigmoutH/SmallWaR: Two Plays

VALENTIJN DHAENENS

BigmoutH / SmallWaR

TWO PLAYS

OBERON BOOKS

LONDON

WWW.OBERONBOOKS.COM

First published in 2014 by Oberon Books Ltd

521 Caledonian Road, London N7 9RH

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7607 3637 / Fax: +44 (0) 20 7607 3629

e-mail:

www.oberonbooks.com

Copyright Valentijn Dhaenens, 2014

Valentijn Dhaenens is hereby identified as author of these plays in accordance with section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The author has asserted his moral rights.

All rights whatsoever in this plays are strictly reserved and application for performance etc. should be made before commencement of rehearsal to RICHARD JORDAN PRODUCTIONS LTD, MEWS STUDIOS, 16 VERNON YARD, LONDON, W11 2DX; T: +44 (0) 207 243 9001 E: . No performance may be given unless a licence has been obtained, and no alterations may be made in the title or the text of the play without the authors prior written consent.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or binding or by any means (print, electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

PB ISBN: 978-1-78319-169-7

EPUB ISBN: 978-1-78319-668-5

Cover image copyright daily dolores

BigmoutH image on page 12 copyright Maya Wilsens

SmallWaR image on page 60 copyright Inge Lauwers

Printed, bound and converted

by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY.

Visit www.oberonbooks.com to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that youre always first to hear about our new releases.

Contents

BigmoutH

BigmoutH was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe on 20 August 2012 at Summerhall and produced by SKaGeN in co-production with Stuk and De Tijd. It was produced thereafter in London on 2 July 2013 at Soho Theatre and then subsequently on tour worldwide by SKaGeN and Richard Jordan Productions Ltd in co-production with Stuk and DeTijd.

Direction & Performance Valentijn Dhaenens

Light & Sound Design Jeroen Wuyts

SmallWaR

SmallWaR was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe on 3 August 2014 at the Traverse Theatre and produced by SKaGeN and Richard Jordan Productions Ltd, Theatre Royal Plymouth and Big in Belgium in co-production with Stuk and deSingel.

Direction & Performance by Valentijn Dhaenens

Video, Set & Sound Design by Jeroen Wuyts

BIOGRAPHIES

VALENTIJN DHAENENS Writer & Performer

After obtaining a Masters Degree in Dramatic Arts at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp, Valentijn co-founded his own theater company, SKaGeN. From 2006, the company has been rewarded with structural subsidy from the Flemish/Belgian Government for their work as one of the leading modern theatre groups in Belgium and Holland.

Outside SKaGeN he has worked extensively as an actor in over 30 productions for Belgiums major companies such as NTGent, Kaaitheater Brussels and Ontroerend Goed. His international breakthrough came with his own written and directed solo-show BigmoutH that is touring extensively to major festivals and venues worldwide. A follow-up, SmallWaR, will be presented at the Edinburgh Festival 2014.

Aside from his theatre work, Valentijn is a sought-after narrator for documentaries such as The boy is gone by Christophe Bohn. Occasionally he is a guest lecturer at Belgian and Dutch theatre schools.

To a broader audience, Valentijn is best known for his acting in several TV shows and films, most notably for his lead-role in De helaasheid der dingen/The Misfortunates by Felix Van Groeningen which won numerous prizes worldwide such as the Prix Art et Essai at the Cannes Film Festival 2009.

JEROEN WUYTS Video, Sound & Set Design

Jeroen Wuyts started in Kunstencentrum Vooruit, Ghent, as an all-round technician before moving on to include lighting design for En-Knap dance company and Foi, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoi. He combined his technical skills and lighting design for Isabellas Room, Needcompany, and toured with Once, Rosas. Jeroen began working with SKaGeN when he did the companys lighting designs and touring performances, including BigMouth. SKaGeN presented him with a sound challenge, as their performances use complicated sound and video cues and used it for their next show, SmallWar, a video-based puzzle.

Born in 1956 in Belgium, Nadine earned her MA in translation in 1978 for Dutch, French and English. She was awarded a PhD in 1999 followed by three sabbatical years spent in North America, Australia and New Zealand. She is a translator of (modern) art catalogues from 1978 (Beuys, Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst, under Jan Hoet) to 1993 (Jan Hoets Documenta). Nadine moved to literature and slowly gravitated towards drama/film scripts. Her latest script translations into English: De zaak Alzheimer and Windkracht 10, the Movie and her latest translation for the stage: BigmoutH (Edinburgh Festival). She has been a full-time senior lecturer since 1981 with the English department at the Antwerp Lessius Hogeschool (formerly known as KVH, school of translators and interpreters, now department of Applied Languages under KUL (Catholic University of Leuven). In 2010, Nadine was the recipient of the Emile Verhaeren honorary chair in literary translation, endowed by the Vlaamse Universiteit Brussel.

SKaGeN Theatre Company

SKaGeN is a theatre company that has been producing highly successful plays in Flanders and the Netherlands since 2000, both on the art circuit and the more public-oriented festival circuit (e.g. Summer in Antwerp, Theatre on the Market). This success derives from its combination of high artistic standards and accessibility. SKaGeN was formed by members of a class that graduated from the renowned Antwerp Conservatory, headed by a lion of Flemish theatre, Dora van der Groen, and the internationally acclaimed theatre and opera director Ivo Van Hove. The group has developed into one of the leading theatre companies of its generation. SKaGeN has built a tradition to adapt great novels for theatre. SKaGeNs versions of La Peste by Albert Camus, Voyage au bout de la nuit by L.F. Cline and Berlin Alexanderplatz by A. Dblin are successful examples of this.

SKaGeN is Valentijn Dhaenens, Korneel Hamers, Mathijs Scheepers and Clara van den Broek

RICHARD JORDAN PRODUCTIONS LTD Producer

Richard Jordan is an Olivier and TONY Award-winning producer. His London-based company Richard Jordan Productions Ltd was founded in 1998 and has produced over 190 productions in the UK as well as 19 other countries, including 60 world premieres and 70 European, Australian or US premieres enjoying associations with many of the worlds leading theatres and arts organisations.