THE DEVILS / LES DIABLES

At the start of the 17th century, the French provincial town of Loudun is shaken by a wave of hysteria: local nun Jeanne des Anges is accused of demonic possession.

Local authorities fear a demon, with obscene motives, is making the monastery unsafe at night. Soon they catch sight of the progressive and sexually promiscuous priest Urbain Grandier. This accusation marks the start of one of the most infamous witch trials in history. Loudun becomes the scene of a grand political theatre; both the nuns and Grandier become actors in a legal spectacle that addresses brand-new societal issues. Is the nuns’ possession truly a supernatural intervention by evil powers, or is it a collective denunciation of their centuries-long (sexual) oppression? And is Grandier guilty, or is he merely a scapegoat in a fast-evolving world?

Krapp wants to open up this historical case and use it as raw material for a new theatre production. Mats Vandroogenbroeck wrote a new theatre text based on historical materials, from novels and case files to accounts from spectators, exorcists, victims and accused. Nona Demey Gallagher takes on the direction, Timo Sterckx plays Urbain Grandier.

Right at this time of major change – of scientific revolution, emerging enlightened thinking, growing atheism and feminist emancipation – forgotten devils re-emerge, stronger, more powerful and more conservative than ever before.

PERFORMANCE DATES

27 Apr 2023 – Brussels, KVS – 20:30
28 Apr 2023 – Brussels, KVS – 20:30
2 May 2023 – Brussels, KVS – 14:00
4 May 2023 – Brussels, KVS – 20:30
5 May 2023 – Brussels, KVS – 20:30
10 May 2023 – Ghent, CAMPO – 20:30
11 May 2023 – Ghent, CAMPO – 20:30
12 May 2023 – Ghent, CAMPO – 20:30
18 Aug 2023 – Bruges, Reiefestival – 21:30
19 Aug 2023 – Bruges, Reiefestival – 21:30
20 Aug 2023 – Bruges, Reiefestival – 21:30
3 Oct 2023 – Brussels, KVS – 19:00
5 Oct 2023 – Brussels, KVS – 14:00
6 Oct 2023 – Brussels, KVS – 20:30
20 Dec 2023 – Berchem, Corso – 20:30
11 Jan 2024 – Roeselare, De Spil – 20:30
13 Jan 2024 – Beveren, CC Ter Vesten – 20:00
19 Jan 2024 – Menen, CC De Steiger – 20:15
8 Feb 2024 – Ostend, De Grote Post – 20:00
14 Feb 2024 – Leuven, 30CC – 20:00

PRESS

"Nuns earning a living as sex workers, or slipping free of the Church's power through a diabolical mass hysteria? Theatre companies show that there is more girl power in the dark Middle Ages than you might think."
De Standaard

"Krapp cleverly draws the connection between the well-documented show trial of centuries ago and the cases of paranoia, conspiracy thinking, religious rhetoric, political framing and public trials that we are still confronted with today."
Bruzz

"In The Devils, Krapp is more restrained. No more bombardment of disorienting images, but a fierce narrative — fairly on speed, yet with rhetorical moments of rest. Here the figures make clear at once that this is above all a power game, and the tactics with which that game is played are in fact entirely transparent. The theatrical magnification, the baroque abundance, shows itself here in the once again highly physical performance style of the figures, an intensity that always manages to look 'dramaturgically justified.'"
Etcetera

CREDITS

concept Mats Vandroogenbroeck, Nona Demey Gallagher & Timo Sterckx (Krapp)
cast Mats Vandroogenbroeck, Timo Sterckx, Fleur Perneel, Bastiaan Vandendriessche, Maria Zandvliet & Fiene Zasada
text Mats Vandroogenbroeck
direction Nona Demey Gallagher
dramaturgy Dina Dooreman
costumes Eleni Ellada Damianou
painting Emiel Vandekerckhove
mentoring Valentijn Dhaenens
lighting design & technique Dimi Stuyven
sound design & technique Bram Moriau
technical production & stage manager Lieven Symaeys
surtitles Inge Floré
translation Trevor Perri & Anne Vanderschueren
production management Catherine Vervaecke
poster image Anton Claeys
touring/distribution Saskia Liénard
production Krapp & KVS
co-production Perpodium & Reiefestival
with the support of De Grote Post & the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest