het TheaterFestival

Amadou

Laika

dates

Sat 06.09, 11:00

tickets

Sat 06.09, 15:00

tickets

Sun 07.09, 11:00

tickets

Sun 07.09, 15:00

tickets

€24 / €26 / €28
UITPAS: €4,8
-18: €15

+ Q&A on September 6 after the 15:00 performance

location

Kopergietery Rabot

duration

60 min

language

Dutch

No supertitles

Dutch ★★★☆ (you should have a good understanding of Dutch and be able to say some things)

Info

From the jury
“Amadou delivers storytelling theatre at its finest, supported by beautiful live music and a soundscape that fully immerses you in the main character’s journey. This makes Amadou a perfectly composed picture and a piece that distills theatre down to its age-old essence: a good story.”

Amadou (8+)

In praise of storytellers

Discover a place where time is no longer in charge.

Hang your haste on a hook

and cast your cares aside until tomorrow.

Open the gates of your ears,

step into a world

of long ago, but also of today,

and listen to the rhythm and melody of stories old and new.

People have always told each other stories. So as to understand the world and not forget, and also to impart life lessons.

Aminata Demba follows in the footsteps of the West-African storytellers – the griots.

She puts herself in the shoes of a child, whose head is bursting with big and little questions. Her search for answers turns into an adventure, during which she also discovers herself.

Join her on a journey to the depths of time. A journey packed with miraculous encounters with a stressed-out hippopotamus and an elephant with an itch, hospitable aunts, a love-struck billy goat and an untrustworthy crow. A musical trip, with nothing in your pocket other than a fistful of courage and a real zest for life.

Amadou is an ode to the art of telling stories through incantatory music.     This tale was inspired by the work of the Malian author Amadou Hampâté Bâ, who collected and wrote down the mythical, oral stories from the memory of the Fula people.

FAMILY FRIENDLY

8+

Reviews

"Here no one is a prisoner of time," Demba welcomes us in a circle of benches around an orange-brown backdrop. Her lively narration exudes tranquillity and vista. The live music by Issa Ndour and Sam Gysel also makes you spontaneously imagine yourself under the baobab in a sandy village in Mali, in the light of the setting sun."

—Wouter Hillaert, De Standaard

"Being sucked into a story, how blissful is that. Especially when it is told live by someone who invites you in, takes you into the words, into the rhythm, and who enhances the musicality with sounds from special instruments. The narration becomes even stronger when it takes place in an intimate, safe place. Aminata Demba and Laika play all that. They make visitors, young and old, happy for an hour. Even days later, you enjoy the experience."

—Tuur Devens, Theaterkrant

Credits

Concept & performance: Aminata Demba

Text: Aminata Demba

Direction: Jo Roets

Live music: Sam Gysel & Issa Ndour

Dramaturgy & text coaching: Mieke Versyp

Scenography: Peter De Bie

Costumes: Leentje Kerremans

Light design: Thomas Stevens

Sound: Tom Van den Brande

Technical team: Rik Van Gysegem, Anton Van Haver, Frederic Veugelen

Technical and production coordination: Pieter Smet

Stage: Lina Bernaerts

Coproduced with the support of: the Flemish Community & the Federal Belgian Government’s Tax Shelter scheme.