Nobody benefits
THE PRISON
Language No Problem
By:
Lara Staal and NTGent
Age:
Youth and adults
Genre:
Theater, Music theater
Rotterdam
IN SHORT: In The Prison (De Gevangenis) theatre maker Lara Staal explores, in collaboration with former inmates such as rapper Freddie Konings, the failing Belgian prison system. Through personal testimonies and music they bring the harsh reality of detention to life and raise critical questions about humanity, effectiveness and the need for alternatives to the current system.
The performance has English surtitles.
For years, Belgium has struggled with overcrowded and completely outdated prisons. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has reprimanded our country several times. The European Court of Human Rights condemned Belgium in 2014. How is it that we stubbornly cling to a system that we have known for decades to be failing?
Together with theatre maker Lara Staal, four former inmates deliver a razor-sharp analysis of our prison system. After Dissident, about Flemish education, and Serdi, about youth care, Staal once again gives a voice to the victims of a failing system in The Prison.
Prisons form a parallel universe. They are mini-societies that exist alongside the visible “open” society. But to what extent are we, as citizens, aware of this? What is our shared vision? How do we think about punishment today? And which voices shape this?
Life in prison takes place in the shadows. Banishment of people to an “underworld” seems like a way to keep the world “above” clean and comfortable. But is that really true? What is this violence on which our society is built - yet we choose not to see it? Can people from the underworld return to the surface? And are they then forever marked?
EXTRA INFO
- EXTRA INFO
- EXTRA INFO
- EXTRA INFO
- EXTRA INFO
- EXTRA INFO
- EXTRA INFO
- EXTRA INFO
- EXTRA INFO
- EXTRA INFO
About the makers
NTGent (Nederlands Toneel Gent) is als stadstheater van Gent opgericht in 1965. Het NTGent (Netherlands Theatre Ghent) was founded as the city theatre of Ghent in 1965. As an international municipal company, it presents productions in the Koninklijke Nederlandse Schouwburg (KNS). In addition to performances in the Schouwburg at Sint-Baafsplein and in Minnemeers, there are collaborations with VIERNULVIER and Minard.
Lara Staal is a Dutch theatre maker, researcher, writer, and curator. As a resident artist at NTGent, in recent years she has made it her hallmark to expose social injustices through the stories of people with lived experience. In that sense, The Prison is the successor to SERDI about Flemish youth care. A powerful monologue, selected for the 2024 Theatre Festival, which — almost two years after its premiere — continues to tour theatres, youth institutions, schools and prisons. In 2022, Staal premiered Dissident at NTGent, in which “problem youth” hold the education system accountable.
Credits
Lara Staal, Matthias Velle & spelers
Laurens Aneca/Kevin Laforce, Bahadir Kanmaz, Freddie Konings, Adam Rambouk
Helen White
Lara Staal
Matthias Velle
Aisha Adepoju
Grischa Runge
Freddie Konings, James Ndongala-Landu
There are no comments yet on THE PRISON
We’re eager to know what you thought of this performance! Will you let us know?