NATIONAL PREMIERE Cine-Teatro Louletano / Thu 17 OCT 21h30 Show in PT, EN and NL / Subtitled in EN Post-performance talk with the artists Support: Flanders State of The Arts THEATRE / 60' / M16 / 5€ - BUY
On the 5th of November 2015, a dam containing toxic mining waste collapsed in the Brazilian mining region Minas Gerais. A devastating flood of mud destroyed several villages before flowing into the long river Rio Doce. In a region where more than three out of four people work in the mining industry, the disaster resembled a complete tabula rasa.
Silke Huysmans grew up in Minas Gerais, a few miles away from the place where the disaster occurred. Twenty years later, she returned to Brazil for the first time with Hannes Dereere in order to talk to people affected by the incident. Back in Europe, they broadened their view on the event through interviews with amongst others economist Paul De Grauwe and neurologist Luc Crevits. Each of them tells the story of the disaster from their own context, with their own nuances and points of interest.
The documentary theatre performance Mining Stories is not a detective story or a reconstruction of the disaster, but an intriguing journey through a diverse collection of personal stories crossing topics such as memory, politics, religion and storytelling.
Created by: Silke Huysmans & Hannes Dereere
Performance: Silke Huysmans
Dramaturgical Advice: Dries Douibi
Technical Support: Christoph Donse
Scenography: Frédéric Aelterman & Luc Cools
Portuguese Transcriptions: Luanda Casella & Miguel Cipriano
Production: Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek & Bâtard Festival
Executive Production: CAMPO
Co-Production: Noorderzon Festival & KAAP Creative Compass
Residencies: Veem House For Performance, CAMPO, CC De Grote Post, KAAP Creative Compass, Grand Theatre Groningen, Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek & Vooruit Arts Centre
Supported by: Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie & Sabam For Culture and Flanders State of the Arts
Thanks to: all conversation partners
The work of young theatre-makers Silke Huysmans and Hannes Dereere (Brussels, Belgium) departs from concrete situations, events or places that reveal a broader subject. What characterizes them is the way they research their projects by means of scientific investigation, interviews and field research. Mining Stories (2016) was awarded with the Zürcher Theater Spektakel Patronage Price 2018.