Métisse is a tragicomic, musical performance on the existential question of 'double-blooded children' since the 1960s, when, as illegitimate citizens, they encountered massive misunderstandings - both in white Europe and in Black Africa.
Métisse tells the story of a white grandmother (Christa), her double-blooded daughter (Christine), her white boyfriend (Werner) and her black granddaughter (Etouri). The four characters oscillate between family and history, between fiction and reality. They each deal with a permanent social problem in their own way: imaging about different skin colours, cultures and their intermingling. What part of their identity are they trying to get rid off? Which stereotypes do they set in motion, and which do they maintain?
The source of inspiration for the performance is the story of Ann Van Vaerenberg, daughter of a black priest and a Belgian woman, and now herself a mother. Director Tom Dupont mixes the perspectives of three generations of women, each with a darker skin, and in doing so exposes a piece of the hidden past and present.
she always says
mom, I feel only half
and I tell her
you're not half
you're double
you're more than me
Visual artist Paul Van Gysegem gave free rein to his imagination on the theme of the performance. Action Zoo Humain is authorised to sell the resulting work as a limited-edition screen print to help plug the gap in its budget.
Would you like a copy? Please email info[@]actionzoohumain.be
Press
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De Standaard (Belgium)
01.02.2020"The year is only a month old, but creators and performers of colour are very much in the spotlight everywhere. (...) Métisse (...) centres on the relationships between three generations of women: a white woman who had a mixed-race child with a black priest, who in turn adopts a black daughter from Africa."Read more -
De Standaard (Belgium)
28.01.2020"No doubt many of their stories have yet to be told. 'Métisse' is a valuable start."Read more -
De Zevende Dag (Belgium)
19.01.2020Kapinga Gysel: "As a mixed-race person, you always have to straddle two worlds a bit."Watch episode -
Youth magazine BILL (Belgium)
17.01.2020"A white grandmother, a mother who is half white and half black, and a black granddaughter who carries a whole world within her. These three women together. Sometimes sharp-tongued. They love each other."Read more -
Klara - Pompidou (radio) (Belgium)
14.01.2020Tom Dupont: "Everything passes, except the past. The grandmother’s trauma is passed down from generation to generation."Listen to episode -
Focus & WTV (Belgium)
17.01.2020"Métisse is socially conscious theatre. Sometimes raw, often uncomfortable, but never gloomy."Watch episode
Credits
- Text, direction
- Tom Dupont
- Cast
- Kapinga Gysel, Patricia Kargbo, Lucas Van der Vegt, Katelijne Verbeke
- Coach music
- Sam Gysel
- Scenography
- Geert Vandewalle
- Costumes
- Marij Debrabandere
- Video
- Peter Monsaert
- Light
- Maarten Thorrez
- Sound
- Niels Vanherpe
- Artistic support
- Chokri Ben Chikha, Zouzou Ben Chikha, Jos Verbist
- Intern dramaturg
- Alice De Waele
- Production
- Theater Antigone, Action Zoo Humain
- Coproduction
- Perpodium
- Partner
- NTGent
- Special thanks to
- Ann Van Vaerenberg
- With the support of
- the Belgian Federal Government’s Tax Shelter & Cronos Invest, the Flemish Literature Fund
Gallery
