Toneelhuis/Jan Decleir - Gilles!

For decades, I have secretly cherished the desire to bring those chillingly beautiful words of Hugo Claus back to life, and for decades I have now been ashamed of my inertia, my lack of decisiveness. Now that it is no longer possible with any sense of realism to give shape to Gilles, who was put to death at a young age, I am finally past the shame and look forward to presenting a work of art from the last century in this era. That century in which the poet Hugo Claus, then for a brief moment, according to his critics, breathlessly fought for the hegemony of the word in the theater, where he, true to his nature, not without irony with humor and insight into that bizarre creature ‘human’, wrote a poignant text for all times about war, love and jealousy, loss, depravity, faith, and horror. (Jan Decleir) 37 years after the premiere, Jan Decleir once again crawls into the skin of Gilles de Rais and presents himself to his judges. Thus, the monologue that Hugo Claus wrote especially for Decleir comes to life again. Gilles de Rais was a French marshal from the beginning of the fifteenth century, who, like his contemporary Joan of Arc, died at the stake. However, for less noble reasons. De Rais posed as a deeply religious man, but abused and murdered more than a hundred children. Who was this man, from whom it is said that the fairy tale of Bluebeard is derived? Text : Hugo Claus Acting : Jan Decleir Adaptation : Jan Decleir Live music : Fanfare Toeterdonk Executive producer : Toneelhuis Original premiere : February 18, 1988, Muntschouwburg Brussel in a production of De Dolage vzw in collaboration with De Munt www.toneelhuis.be