SCHOPENHAUER

SCHOPENHAUER Stefaan Van Brabandt & Damiaan De Schrijver \"Life is a precarious affair. I have decided to think about it for the rest of my life.” After the widely acclaimed and multi-award-winning SARTRE & DE BEAUVOIR, philosopher-writer-director Stefaan van Brabandt comes with the long-awaited 5th part of his successful philosopher theater series: SCHOPENHAUER, played by one of our greatest actors: Damiaan De Schrijver (known for his numerous roles in theater and on TV in De Ronde, Recht op Recht, Terug naar Oosterdonk, Kijk eens op de doos, Spike, Met Man and Macht …). According to the cheerful pessimist and laughing misanthrope Arthur Schopenhauer, our life is characterized by suffering and boredom and is therefore one big mistake. Nevertheless, the philosophy of 'the gloomiest philosopher of all time’ is extraordinarily uplifting, infectious, and even liberating. Nietzsche - who saw Schopenhauer as his \"teacher and educator” - praised him for 'the great cheerfulness’ and even considered this cheerfulness to be one of his most important traits. \"Let's assume for a moment that life is worth living,” wrote Schopenhauer, \"how should we arrange it to get as much happiness out of it as possible?”. In SCHOPENHAUER you will find out why life is suffering, and how you can free yourself from that suffering according to the 'Boeddha van Frankfurt’. With SCHOPENHAUER, Stefaan van Brabandt wants to once again make accessible and sparkling theater out of the tragicomic life and enlightening thinking of his favorite philosopher, played by his favorite actor Damiaan De Schrijver. Theater that makes you laugh, moves you, and makes you think. Through the mix of simplicity, humor, and wisdom, the philosophers in his performances always become people of flesh and blood, who tell us their life and philosophy in a language that is as comprehensible as it is graceful, full of striking sentences, sharp observations, and rich, inspiring philosophical insights. The press on Schopenhauer \"De Schrijver brings his text anything but gloomily. No matter how somber his misanthropy sometimes is, the actor takes his audience by the hand cheerfully and brightly and leads it through Schopenhauer's life and views. Nowhere does that become pretentious, (…) and at the end it seems almost possible to reconcile yourself with the fate of being human in a grim world. (…) The performance makes you think, sharpens the mind, and works towards a breathtaking and movingly beautiful ending in over an hour and a half. (…) Damiaan De Schrijver has made life a little lighter for a moment in Schopenhauer.” De Volkskrant ***** \"In SCHOPENHAUER the philosopher is cheerful, touchy, megalomaniacal, and (of course) a pessimist.” NRC **** \"Damiaan De Schrijver shines as the pessimistic Schopenhauer. A true pleasure to listen to and watch, (…) for an hour and a half we hang on his lips. (…) A sincerely meant standing ovation testifies to the enthusiasm that this pessimistic philosopher has aroused. Never before have I seen so many people queuing at the counter to buy a text booklet.” Theaterkrant \"The text is witty and sharp: there is nothing more festive than extensively ranting against tragic existence. (…) Van Brabandt succeeds in translating philosophy into a strong theater text that amuses and inspires (…). Weaving a philosophy with the anecdotes of a philosopher's life is compelling.” De Standaard