Alternate Title Morning Song
Production Language English
Country of Origin Belgium
Description Morning Song, the second installment of No beauty for me there, where human life is rare, is less a new play than a fresh infusion of the alternate reality conceived by Belgian-Flemish artist Jan Lauwers and his unique international ensemble, Needcompany.
It is a visually captivating, purely theatrical world. On a stage neatly divided into thirds - a grouping of chairs and a microphone, a dance area, and a fully functioning kitchen - Lauwers conjures Liliane Grandiflora and her tenacious family who rebel, often hilariously, against fate as they seek life's ineffable meaning.
As they search, we try to decipher the mystery of who they are and what they mean to one another. Individual idiosyncrasies and relationships are gradually revealed through the characters' actions which range from the baldly prosaic to outright surreal. One "dances" her emotional and psychological life, another skillfully prepares a complete, delectably fragrant onstage dinner that is promptly consumed.
Lauwers stretches the boundaries of what is possible in performance. In his world, real time vacillates with dream time, or as one German critic praised, "Jan Lauwers makes you laugh and poses questions, but at the same time invites you to an intense experience of the beauty he portrays. The warmth that results from this does one good."
Identifier 1999f.00672
