De Zwarte Schande (The Black Shame)

"A buried history? It's no coincidence Ben Chikha leaves N'Dyaies grandson Martin to tell it. With its African-German roots, he grew up in Waasland as a promising young footballer, once playing for the young Red Devils. His story in 2013 is that of his great-grandfather of a century earlier: serving honorably the flag of  a foreign club that finally, once the services was rendered, dumps you outside her memory. Because De Zwarte Schande, the story of racism and exploitation is told with a big grin, you realise this is no laughing matter.” - De Standaard (14/11/2013, Wouter Hillaert)

 

 

Maarten Schiltmeier is a German who grew up in De Klinge, a small village in the Waasland. Maarten is a talented footballer who has the dream to build a major international football career. He is even given a nickname: the invincible ‘King Kong’. King Kong scours one football club after another and eventually ends up in Belgian first division at KSK Beveren, where his football career is ended abruptly due to the dramatic event in which King Kong himself is involved.

 

Due to the passing of his grandfather Jean-Marie Schiltmeier –who also bore the negative mark of being a German his whole life in spite of fighting with the allies during World War II – Maarten gets to see the report of the proceedings initiated by France against his great-grandfather Seydou N’Diaye, a Senegalese Tirailleur, after having fought at the front for four years during World War I.

The monologue tells the family chronicle in which Maarten Goffin takes on the role of the three characters. All three fought for various flags and especially for the honour of these flags. All three sought happiness. But once the battle was fought, they got the flags in their face and could no longer see where they were walking.