KUNSTENFESTIVALDESARTS — Les jours de mon abandon

15 — 19.05

Gaia Saitta^Brussels

Les jours de mon abandon

theatre — premiere

| French → NL, EN | ⧖ 1h15 | €21 / €17 | Presence of a dog on stage

Italy, end of 1990s. Olga, aged 40, is the mother of two children and a devoted wife, conforming to social wishes. One day, her husband leaves her for a younger woman. Everything falls apart: reality, her world, her body. She turns vulgar, violent, unpredictable, even grotesque. During endless nights without sleep, Olga wanders the house, holding her breath as an act of resistance. The apparent madness becomes extreme lucidity, driving liberation from and deconstruction of a social norm. Once the make-up is removed and appearances abandoned, another Olga takes her place. A mythic, powerful woman, a modern Medea who takes her own life in hand. In this adaptation from the eponymous book by Elena Ferrante, actress and director Gaia Saitta embodies this woman, along with her children and her dog. The vestiges of a house are on the stage; we penetrate Olga’s physical and mental space, without distinction between interior and exterior. The audience – spread across the stage, around the kitchen table and in the stands – is both witness to and participant in Olga’s transformation. Ultimately, are we not all enclosed in a role through the insistent gaze of the others? A role which may be abandoned and rewritten at any time. A play about the emancipating power of anger and madness.

15.05

16.05

17.05

18.05

19.05

Note: The performances are currently sold out, but the kids workshop is still open for reservations on the following page.

Presentation: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles
Concept, adaptation and direction: Gaia Saitta | Artistic collaboration: Sarah Cuny, Mathieu Volpe, Jayson Batut | Text and dramaturgy: Gaia Saitta, Mathieu Volpe | Direction assistant: Sarah Cuny | With: Jayson Batut, Flavie Dachy/Mathilde Karam, Gaia Saitta, Vitesse (the dog) | Scenography: Paola Villani | Costume design: Frédérick Denis | Music and sound design: Ezequiel Menalled | Lighting design: Amélie Géhin | Technical manager: Giuliana Rienzi | Sound engineer: Pawel Wnuczynski | Video: Stefano Serra | Stage manager: Thomas Linthoudt | Children’s coach: Lola Chuniaud | Dog coach: Casting Tails, Tim Van Brussel | A show by Gaia Saitta / If Human | Creation: Studio Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles
Production: Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles | Coproduction: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Théâtre de Namur, Le Manège Maubeuge, Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa, CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del FVG, TNC – Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, La Coop, Shelter Prod
With the support of BAMP – Brussels Art Melting Pot, Taxshelter.be, ING and the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government
Gaia Saitta is associated artist at Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles

→ see also: Bring your kids