Platonov

Chekhov wrote this play when he was just 18 years old, giving it the form of an experimental piece lasting nearly eight hours. The Flemish director Luk Perceval has now condensed the play, eliminating half of the characters. In Perceval’s version, nine actors and a pianist who makes musical comments on the scenes portray a series of solitary characters, telling us what each expects from love. It all begins with Platonov about to commit suicide – a change from the original version, in which he murders a female character. And so begins a journey through the events that led up to the protagonist’s death, during which we will meet Anna Petrovna, a widow who once more invites her friends to celebrate the arrival of spring with her. Everything will be as usual, except for the announcement of the marital plans of young Sophie, the great love of Platonov’s younger days. The situation forces him to examine the course that his life has taken and to see himself, cruel, grotesque and perpetually dissatisfied, caught between his love for Sasha, mother of his son, his feelings towards a mature widow (Anna Petrovna), whom he is courting, and the romantic love that Sophie inspires in him. Nausea, despair and self-destruction infuse this new production from Luk Perceval, a director who began reworking the classics using plain language in the 1980s. Perceval’s renown has grown constantly in recent years, to the point where he has become considered an iconic figure in European theatre.

Production: NTGent

Autoria: Anton P. Txékhov ; Adaptació i posada en escena: Luk Perceval; Dramatúrgia: Koen Haagdorens; Interpretació: Elsie de Brauw, Briek Lesage, Katrin Lohmann, Bert Luppes, Peter Seynaeve, Zo« Thielemans, Frank Focketyn, Steven Van Watermeulen i Laura Mentink; Composició i interpretació musical: Jens Thomas; Escenografia: Philip Bussmann; Vestuari: Ilse Vandenbussche; Disseny d'il·luminació: Mark Van Denesse; Disseny de so / concepció sonora: Will-Jan Pielage i Daan Kapteijn
;