COMPAGNIE DAKAR



Compagnie Dakar was established in 2001 by Guido Kleene. The performances by Compagnie Dakar are explicit in their thematic subjects, theatrical communication and refinement. Guido looks for connections with artists who substantially tell something about the world we live in. Often acting upon documentary material and created for audiences that are not usually confronted with this kind of theatre, Compagnie Dakar tries to gain insight - to put words and images to universal dilemmas.'

Compagnie Dakar’s last production Braakland, which translates as ‘wasteland’, was based on the novels by John Coetzee (Nobel Prize for Literature 2003). This surprising quasi-cinematic project is staged in a large wasteland somewhere outside a city. The audience are transported to the site where nine characters wander around a forgotten landscape, abandoned to the laws of life and death.

Their current project is Enfants Sorciers (Child Witches) which looks at Congo-Kinshasa where today tens of thousands of children stand accused of witchcraft.

Talk
'Site-specific Theatre – Interaction with the Space'
A talk presented by Guido Kleene.
Followed by Questions & Answers session.
Guido Kleene will speak on his choice to explore extreme subjects via theatre, often based on another reality or another way ofdealing with reality: "I think it’s significant to look far away, because the further you look, the more you see that your own view deprives your sight. That which you see far away is often horrible and incomprehensible. Once you step closer you might understand better, but might have lost comprehension of yourself. Compagnie Dakar tries to gain insight. Plays in a polarizing and generalizing world. And foremost - I have the opportunity to put words and images to universal dilemmas.”
 

“Braakland seems to me a very important project for the street theatre world. It is one of the most bizarre performances I have ever programmed.”
Jean-Marie Songy, Festival Eclat d’Aurillac

“An extraordinary and important production. Braakland needs to be seen all over the world.”
William Galinsky – Artistic Director, Cork Midsummer Festival