the beach | 14+

We are very happy that the beach will have a place on your stage. On the page below, you will find all the material to make it something beautiful both technically and communicatively.

For all questions, please contact Zita Epenge (+32 476 95 95 82). If you have specific questions related to communication, please contact Sarah Binnemans (+32 3 202 83 76). 

the beach will be a performance with and by young people about sexuality, desire and physicality. The beach is an erotic environment par excellence: (semi-)naked bodies, sun, water, being exposed to the elements and to the gaze of the other. It is a place for play, relaxation, seduction, eroticism, encounter, full of codes, scripts and rituals. As one of the most visited holiday destinations, it is a popular social space, a (seemingly) democratic space.

Both endearing and cruel: endearing in how everyone equal to the laws of the sea surrenders themselves to the sand and to the waves in almost naked bodies; cruel in how here, too, the hierarchy of the brightest, the thinnest, the most muscular, the most popular applies, especially among the young. Again, what thrives best within a dominant, normative cultural fit.

In the beach, we see - over a fictional twenty-four-hour period - how people make their way to the beach and stay there for a short or long time. They pass in pairs, groups or alone, with friends, family or strangers.

The younger characters are flesh-and-blood teenagers, all other characters are puppets. The scenes range from hyper-real to surreal. On the beach, there is a strange tension between calm and action, between the public and the intimate. During this performance, the spectator is invited to get to know the characters, under their lightly burnt skin.

The text for the performance will be generated by a group of young people in conversation with friends and peers. Preliminary research took place during theatre summer weeks. Scenes will be created based on improvisations and beach visits. 

Through focus in image, light and sound, we are invited to zoom in on particular characters, whose inner thoughts and emotions we can follow regarding desire, pleasure, lust, sexuality and sensuality. 

14 years and up
tags theatre, dance, performance