Action Zoo Humain and NTGent Presents PERSIANS. TRIUMP OF EMPATHY

New performance ‘Persians' by Action Zoo Humain & NTGent premieres on 20 June Theatre maker Chokri Ben Chikha seeks empathy in a highly polarised conflict

In what way is empathy still possible in a conflict that seems dominated by immense brutality and all-consuming revenge? For his brand new performance ‘PERSIANS. Triumph of Empathy' theatre-maker Chokri Ben Chikha travelled to Israel and Palestine to listen to various voices.

Persians is the oldest of the surviving Greek tragedies. In his famous play, Aeschylus describes the war between the Greeks and the Persians from the enemy's point of view. A striking choice that inspired theatre-maker Chokri Ben Chikha for PERSIANS. Triumph of Empathy, the brand new performance by Action Zoo Humain and Belgian city theatre NTGent.

Ben Chikha travelled to Israel and Palestine in January 2024 in search of empathy and hope in a highly polarised conflict. He spoke to soldiers, artists, civilians, academics and victims there. Or rather, he listened to them.

Making a performance about the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians puts you on thin ice, admits Ben Chikha in an interview with Belgian newspaper De Morgen. "Those who try to listen empathetically to both sides risk the criticism of advocating a kind of normalisation. Or minimising the drama that is taking place. But we have every interest in taking this conflict very seriously. It is enormously alive in our country too, both among Jews and the Muslim community. We need to talk about it at length. Right now, there is not enough room for that in Belgium."

Who and what determines how we look at the conflict between Israel and Palestine? And what role can an ancient theatre text play in this? In PERSIANS. Triumph of Empathy, five dancers and an actress are challenged to sharpen their personal, political and artistic vision on hubris and empathy, two main themes in Aeschylus' tragedy. The ordeal is made all the more acute by the presence of Palestinian and Israeli voices from interviews Ben Chikha conducted in January 2024.

After Flemish Primitives, the brand new play PERSIANS. Triumph of Empathy is the second part of a triptych in which Ben Chikha explores the relationship between art and propaganda. As did the first part, PERSIANS balances art and reality, opportunism and empathy in a multilingual and interdisciplinary performance.

Action Zoo Humain is artist in residence at NTGent. De Waarheidscommissie [The Truth Commission], the Ghent collective's previous performance, was selected last week as one of the most impressive performances of the past season by the professional jury of the Theaterfestival in The Netherlands.

DATES

• 20 June, world premiere, NTGent Schouwburg (Ghent, BE), 8 pm
• 21 & 22 June, NTGent Schouwburg (Ghent, BE), 8 pm
• 29 & 30 November, NTGent Schouwburg (Ghent, BE), 8 pm
• 1 December, NTGent Schouwburg (Ghent, BE), 3 p.m.

Tour dates will be announced later.