"It's a strange contraption", said the officer to the explorer.
New Toneelhuis artist Bart Meuleman directs Willy Thomas, David Dermez, Stijn Van Opstal and Geert Van Rampelberg of Olympique Dramatique in a double Kafka: In de strafkolonie (In the Penal Colony) and Het hol (The Burrow).
Few of Kafka's texts can be read as politically as In the Penal Colony. An army officer explains the workings of an ingenious execution machine to an explorer. The machine will soon be in operation, carrying out a death sentence. He has great difficulty in expressing his own opinion on this.
In de strafkolonie (In the Penal Colony) is preceded by a performance of Het hol (The Burrow), an intriguing short story and the ultimate parable about our obsession with safety and ownership.
“Het hol / In de strafkolonie is the perfect production.” Klaas Tindemans in De Standaard
“Willy Thomas acts brilliantly in Het hol ( * * * * ) standing on the pitch-dark and ingeniously lit stage.” Els Van Steenberghe in Knack