Barnes is a master at toying with fact and fiction, sincerity and humour. In a light-hearted yet intelligent, subtle yet provocative style, he asks pertinent questions of his readers. What is history? Is it what has happened? Or what is said about what has happened? Is it possible to distinguish between the two? What is an interpretation? How many sides are there to the truth? Is history anything more than a sequence of catastrophes? What role does art play in all of this?
Guy Cassiers, together with Benjamin Verdonck, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Lotte van den Berg, Olympique Dramatique, Wayn Traub and De Filmfabriek, take inspiration from Barnes’ tale. The result is a surprising theatrical voyage through the Bourla theatre, beyond the limits of reality and imagination, destruction and creation.