"For decades, I have had a secret desire to utter the hair-raisingly beautiful words of Hugo Claus on stage again, and for decades I have been ashamed of my inertia, my lack of decisiveness.
Now that is no longer possible to realistically portray Gilles, who was put to death at a young age, I have finally been able get over my shame and am looking forward to presenting at this time a work of art from the last century.
The century in which the poet Hugo Claus (for a short while only, according to his faultfinders) breathlessly fought for the hegemony of the word in theatre; where he, true to his nature, wrote not without irony and with humour and insight into that bizarre creature called ‘man’, a gripping text for all times about war, love and jealousy, loss, depravity, faith and horror."
Jan Decleir
The century in which the poet Hugo Claus (for a short while only, according to his faultfinders) breathlessly fought for the hegemony of the word in theatre; where he, true to his nature, wrote not without irony and with humour and insight into that bizarre creature called ‘man’, a gripping text for all times about war, love and jealousy, loss, depravity, faith and horror."
Jan Decleir
Especially for the Bye Bye Bourla Festival, Jan Decleir – 37 years after the premiere of the monologue that Hugo Claus wrote specifically for him – once again steps into the shoes of Gilles de Rais and stands before his judges.
text
- Hugo Claus
performance
- Jan Decleir
adaptation
- Jan Decleir
executive producer
- Toneelhuis
premiere originale
- 18 februari 1988, Muntschouwburg Brussel
- in een productie van De Dolage vzw ism De Munt
