battlefield of dreams

Floor Houwink ten Cate / Frascati Producties in coproductie met Theater Utrecht
Wed 1 Mar ’23 - Sat 2 Dec ’23
Experimental research about dilemmas around reproduction.
Wed 1 Mar ’23
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Sat 2 Dec ’23

In battlefield of dreams, we search for answers to one of the biggest existential questions of our time: to reproduce or not to reproduce? Theatre maker Floor Houwink ten Cate and writer Brecht De Backer transform the theatre into an experimental fertility and abortion clinic where fiction and reality intersect. They show us the often invisible stories we carry with us throughout our lives and partly shape our identities.

In the studios, dressing rooms, offices and backstage of Floor's previous creative processes, the question of whether or not colleagues wished to procreate often arose. For some, everything happened naturally. For others, it was a race against time. Desired children were lost, pregnancies aborted, and eggs frozen. Some entered into new relational constructs and became bonus or co-parents, and others realized they wanted to become parents. Some chose a life of freedom, without children. "It struck me that the stories were everywhere but that we were hesitant to talk about them together for fear of hurting others or being hurt or condemned. This is an attempt to open up the subject of children so that we learn to carry each other," Floor said.

In four different evenings, we will tell the radically honest stories of being childless, whether by choice or by fate, fertility journeys and abortions. But also about the possibilities, opportunities, new forms and interpretations of parenthood. battlefield of dreams radically shakes up theatrical conventions. This is not a performance, but an experimental research packed with opera, documentary and science. Each evening, different actors, writers, scientists, philosophers and doctors will be present, seeking answers to literal to be or not to be. battlefield of dreams is an ode to self-determination, freedom and new possibilities, while simultaneously dissecting the limits of the malleability of our existence

This is the story of women, with the right to choose, and of men, who are undeniably part of the reproduction question. Of (gender) queers who introduce important and new perspectives on this issue. Who sharpen our interpretations of parenthood and dare to question what exactly it means to be 'mother' or 'father'. It is the story of couples, singles, multi-parent and/or blended families.

Like life, the subject and the team are everchanging, so we will soon share who will be on the floor these four evenings. battlefield of dreams is Floor's last project at Frascati Productions and a co-production with Theatre Utrecht, where she will be a producer starting 2022-2023. The evenings are curated in collaboration with Brainwash.

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  • Language: Dutch

Credits

from and with (contributions by) Annelinde Bruijs (live), Charlie Chan Dagelet (live), Brecht De Backer (live), Floor Houwink ten Cate (live), Serin Utlu (live), Nina van den Berg (docu), Harpo ’t Hart (docu), Absaline Hehakaya (docu), Marlies Heuer (docu), Petra van der Meulen (docu), Joris Smit (docu), Quirine Tordoir (docu), Joy Wielkens (docu)
 
concept and direction
Floor Houwink ten Cate research amd text Brecht De Backer composition Annelinde Bruijs scenography Floor Houwink ten Cate & Varja Klosse lighting design Varja Klosse camera, geluid, licht (docu) Niels van Koevorden set (docu) Hanna van der Haar edit (docu) Lot Rossmark camera- and light assistent & data handling (docu) Niels Lokhorst program makers Marije Ligthart & Machteld Vinkenborg (Brainwash Festival) supported by BankGiroLoterij Fonds ikv Frascati Issues 2023 & Stichting Melanie special thanks Helmut D. Lethe jr., Evgenia Brendes, Lola Smit, Abke Haring, Rebekka Wörmann, Berthe Spoelstra, Rens Christiaansen, Akelei Loos