Persians. Triumph of Empathy
Persians. Triumph of Empathy is a remarkable theatre production directed by Chokri Ben Chikha. In this performance, he and six performers explore how to be more understanding and empathetic in a conflict that has been going on for decades: the conflict between Israel and Palestine. They do this by looking at one of the oldest plays in history, Persians by the Greek writer Aeschylus.
Persians by Aeschylus is about a war between the Greeks and the Persians, in which the writer himself fought against the Persians. The central question is: did Aeschylus have empathy and understanding for his enemy, or did he mainly want to show how superior the Greeks were? By asking these questions, the performers look for connections between this ancient story and today's genocide in the Middle East.
The performance, based on interviews Ben Chikha conducted in Israel and Palestine in January 2024, combines words, dance and music into an engaging and moving whole. Persians. Triumph of Empathy thus balances between art and reality, opportunism and empathy.
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🕗 ± 90 min
💬 Spoken in multiple languages + provided with Dutch surtitles
"I want to be, like Aeschylos, very empathetic towards Israelis and Palestinians, knowing that the one has been violently oppressing the other for over 70 years. It is the greatest challenge of any artwork I have ever tackled with my team. For me, it is not ‘Bambi on ice’, but Bambi in a minefield."
Credits
Concept/direction/choreography Chokri Ben Chikha
With and by Hellen Boyko, Liah Frank, Marah Haj Hussein, Mareille Labohm, Abdennacer Leblalta (Iskara_Alonzo), Sofiane El Boukhari
Dramaturgy Sietske de Vries
Text Erik-Ward Geerlings and performers
Movement coaches Izah Hankammer, Daisy Phillips
Film Jan Beddegenoodts
Soundscape Jo Thielemans
Lighting design Dennis Diels
Set design Karolien De Schepper
Costume design Chloé Wasselin-Dandre
Production management Irina Leskovskaya
Technical production management Patrick Martens
Stage management Bennert Vancottem
Technical crew Geert De Rodder, Jo Thielemans, Wim Piqueur
Surtitles Liesbeth Standaert
Production assistent Clara François
Photography Kurt van der Elst
Project team Irina Leskovskaya & Leen Van Welden (project management), Maarten Degezelle (public relations), Loubna Boukaroua & Oya Latifa (communication), Jo De Visscher (costume studio coordination), Joris Soenen (decoration studio coordination), Carl Vermeersch (artistic planning)
Set, props and costumes NTGent
Production NTGent & Action Zoo Humain
Coproduction Theater Rotterdam
With the support of The Belgian Tax Shelter
With thanks to Ludo De Brabander, Esmeralda Schütz, Eitan Bronstein Aparicio, Ludo Abicht, Isabelle Grynberg, Charles-Daniel Schreiber, Zouzou Ben Chikha, Jawad Musleh, Angela Godfrey, Robi Damelin, Roni Zeidan, Dani Brodsky, Moshe Zimmermann, Yael Ayalon, Amer Badan, Freddy Rokem, Munther Isaac, Rashed Khudairy, An Verelst, Sophie Samyn
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