Schwe Schwes Schwester Schwestern

Put four theater-making sisters together, and something magical happens. Winter, Toulouse, Jules, and Luna translate their family dynamics to the stage. i.c.w. season opener CTRL+FUTURE In the performance 'Schwe Schwes Schwester Schwestern' four theater-making sisters celebrate (family) life on stage. They enter into dialogue with each other and search in language, movement, music, and audio for their expectations and desires. About what it is like to grow up in a (large) family. About letting go and finding back. About leaving and coming home again. About seeing parents divorce and finding their own way in love. What started as an exercise at a drama school becomes a poetic journey through and to the sisterhood that touched many hearts and now finds its way to the theater. Thanks to an alternation between humor, authenticity, emotion, and imagination, they know how to touch the audience. This gripping performance tells the story of a family. Any family. Because we know dynamics in all sizes and shapes. By and with Luna De Cock, Winter De Cock, Toulouse De Cock, Jules De Cock | A production of COMPAGNIE SCHWESTERN Interview Vier sisters together on the boards, it is a unique and stimulating idea. Growing up in a large family is one thing, making a performance about it is something else. The rehearsal days begin during the cornflakes with lukewarm milk in the morning and end in the gray armchair of their parental home. Winter: “Sometimes we are more alike than we would like to admit, while in other areas we differ greatly. We also wanted to include that duality as a theme in the performance. We shine a light on dynamics within our family and how we influence each other in growing up. It is no coincidence that all four of us ended up in the theater field.” What started as an exercise at the drama school became a gripping and poetic performance about a sisterhood, which already touched many hearts and finds its way to the theater next season. Toulouse: “We always wanted to make a performance together, but we especially didn't want to talk about ourselves. Yet it quickly became clear that even the craziest ideas from our brainstorming sessions always ended up on our bond and our dynamics. We couldn't not talk about it, so we decided to turn it around and say a resounding ‘yes’ to it. Because of that, it doesn't always feel like ‘acting’ to us, because we also have a natural way of communicating on stage.” With an alternation between humor, authenticity, emotion, and imagination, the sisters know how to touch the audience. Making a performance about your family, with your close family, how exactly does such a collaboration go? Jules: “All four of us don't mince words and are very direct with each other. Because of that honesty, you quickly get to the core of what you want to make without detours. Also the fact that all four of us still live together and our lives therefore ran completely parallel was not always easy. While there is also a lot of beauty in that: we got up together, went to sleep together, and breathed at the same rhythm.” Winter: “The conversations during our creation process have brought me closer to my sisters and I have learned a lot. Not only about us, but about family structures in general. We also thought that was important, that we broadened the research.” The try-outs are now behind us and their tour starts this autumn. And that brings some tension… Luna: “The performance is about universal themes and balances on the thin line between acting and non-acting. What is real and what is not? It is wonderful to be able to play with that. We touch on themes that lend themselves very well to that. Our great hope is that these themes will also strike a chord with an unknown audience. We are really looking forward to it!” The sisters conclude with the message that this intensive collaboration has made them think: what is it like to leave the parental home? Can we slowly close our shared (childhood) time? Do we want that, or do we not (yet) want that? Discover the duality between these thoughts in the wonderful piece ‘Schwe Schwes Schwester Schwestern’. Pers In HUMO published an interview with 'Jonge Leeuwen' De Cock. Read it here.