Erik Vlaminck has written a new play for three actors about the undeservedly forgotten Antwerp writer Roger Van de Velde (1925-1970). Geert van Rampelberg, Ben Segers and Wouter Hendrickx perform these jigsaw pieces of a shattered life. Sometimes radiant in the sun. Sometimes black from the deepest misery. The pain of being, captured in beauty.
Journalist Roger Van de Velde (1925-1970) found himself in trouble with the law after forging doctors’ letters to obtain Palfium (Dextromoramide). The drug had originally been recommended as a painkiller by his doctor before it was known to be addictive. It is unbelievable but true that as a result of that fraudulent act, Van de Velde spent eight years in prisons and psychiatric institutions with just short intervals in-between. During that time, he produced a small literary oeuvre of lasting merit. A campaign led by writers eventually resulted in his being released. Just a few weeks later Roger Van de Velde was found dead in a chair at a street café in the centre of Antwerp. He probably died of an overdose of Palfium. It seems that in 2012 the (non-)treatment of prisoners in Belgium is still unworthy of a welfare state.
by and with
- Geert Van Rampelberg
- Wouter Hendrickx
- Ben Segers
text
- Erik Vlaminck
scenography
- Hugo Moens
costume design
- Karen De Wolf
production
- Toneelhuis
- Olympique Dramatique
- Toneelhuis
- Olympique Dramatique
