BAM/Next Wave 2022 Opens With Belgium Theater Collective FC Bergman In Its US Debut

Anarchistic Belgian theater collective FC Bergman opens Next Wave 2022, and makes its bold US debut with 300 el x 50 el x 30 el (pronounced 300 el by 50 el by 30 el), a production described as "bold" and "a visual feast" (The Stage).

The collective brings the full force of their chaotic, poetic brilliance to BAM with a theatrical and cinematic work of epic proportions. With some Old Testament inspiration (the title refers to the dimensions of Noah's Ark), they transform the Harvey Theater into a village in the woods, where live animals, a gigantic cast, and six small houses clustered around a pond. As a film crew circles the scene-revealing the wild humor and grotesque secrets that lurk behind closed doors-these stories build to an unforgettable fever pitch in the face of an oncoming flood.

The wordless production was one of the first performances by the theater collective and was created for the 2011 Antwerpse Kleppers Festival in one month. The production spent years on tour in Greece, France, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands and is now making its US premiere. The collective will celebrate its tenth anniversary as a resident Toneelhuis company in 2023.

300 el x 50 el x 30 el was created by Stef Aerts, Joé Agemans, Bart Hollanders, Matteo Simoni, Thomas Verstraeten, and Marie Vinck. The production will feature set design by FC Bergman and Matthijs Kuyer, camera direction by Thomas Verstraeten, and costume design by Judith Van Herck. Performers include Stef Aerts, Joé Agemans, Matteo Simoni, Thomas Verstraeten, and Marie Vinck. With guest artists Gert Portael, Herwig Ilegems, Shana Van Looveren, Evelien Bosmans, Ramona Verkerk, Arne Focketeyn, Oscar Van Rompay, Ruud Gielens, Gregory Frateur, Mattis Devoldere Contesse, Karen Vanparys, Yorrith de Bakker, Jeroen Perceval. The show includes nudity, sexual content, and violence.

The production is a part of Next Wave 2022. Returning for the first time in three years, BAM brings back celebrated favorites and welcomes new and International Artists for thrilling theater, music, and dance engagements. For more information, visit www.bam.org/next-wave

FC Bergman is a theater collective from Antwerp. They have produced theatrical shows that have made them one of the most interesting young companies in the Flemish performing arts landscape. With their shows (Terminator Trilogie, 300 el x 50 el x 30 el, Vandenvos, JR, The sheep song...), they have created their own dramatic language, insolent and poetic, often wordless, whose plastic power and capacity for evocation are striking. They draw inspiration from cinema, art history, and great religious stories. They have been associate artists with the Toneelhuis in Antwerp since 2013 and are making their US and BAM debut.

To post a comment, you must register and login.