Immaculata

A sunny weekday morning. During the lunch break, two students take weapons out of their schoolbags and commit a true bloodbath in the school library and the cafeteria.  ‘Immaculata’ follows the story of four young people during the last night (and morning) of their lives. They talk about young love. Or unhappiness. About joyful expectations. Or the lack thereof. But in the background, the approaching footsteps of armed fellow students, who are on their way to abruptly put an end to all that wonder about this life, are always audible.  This rhythmic text from 2004 is based on documentary material from the high school shootings in Columbine and Erfurt. Fast forward to now: in our times of online hate and radicalization, 1 in 3 suspects in Belgian terrorism files involving violence turns out to be a minor. Disturbing.  Twenty years after the original performance, we are re-examining the text with a new generation of young actors, musicians, and audience. "It is impressive how so many images can be evoked with such striking sobriety of means and style. That is some powerful stuff." - Pol Arias, Radio 1