If you’ve ever seen Titus Andronicus, you don’t need to be told about the catalogue of horrors and gratuitous violence that the English bard’s plays descend into at times. Many of his works reach a level of brutality that would make them unacceptable to our sensibilities... were it not for the fact that television news has long accustomed us to regard suffering and horror as practically normal. Racism, violence, misogyny... they are no strangers to the plays penned by Shakespeare. Why do we like to watch or read crime fiction? What role does violence play in the art of our time? And what differences are there in how it is seen and judged today compared to past centuries?
The Belgian director Jan Lauwers, one of the prominent names in European theatre today, has already staged many Shakespeare plays. This makes him a good guide on the journey through the darkest corners of Shakespeare’s work that his son, the poet Victor Afung Lauwers, proposes in Billy’s Violence. Is Shakespeare a kind of late-16th and early-17th-century Tarantino? Our answers come from the members of Needcompany, a multidisciplinary, multicultural and innovative theatre company created in 1986, as well as from Jan Lauwers’ and Needcompany’s local accomplices: Nao Albet, who is always ready to explore the paths laid down by the Belgian director; Gonzalo Cunill, an actor born in Argentina with a long career on Catalan stages and in film; and the actor and director Juan Navarro.
A Needcompany production.
Co-produced by the Grec 2021 Festival de Barcelona, Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, Teatro Español, Naves del Español en Matadero, Teatro Central (Seville) and Les Salins - Scène Nationale de Martigues.
Financed thanks to the Tax Shelter BNP Paribas Fortis Film Finance NV/SA.
With the support of the Tax Shelter of the Belgian federal government and the government of Flanders.
Suitable for people over the age of 16.
This show will be performed along with Billy’s Joy on Sunday 30 June.
Text: Victor Lauwers. Music: Maarten Seghers. Performed by: Nao Albet, Grace Ellen Barkey, Gonzalo Cunill, Martha Gardner, Romy Louise Lauwers, Juan Navarro, Maarten Seghers, Meron Verbelen.
Lighting: Ken Hioco. Technical and production team: Marjolein Demey, Ken Hioco, Tijs Michiels. Assistant costume and prop designer: Nina López Le Galliard
