David Labi

Pieces of a Man is an (auto)biographical monologue about David Labi’s late father, Marcello: a Libyan Jew who survived Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as a child, grew up in Israel and later settled in London. Marcello brought lifelong wonder, madness, joy and pain to those around him.

Pieces of a Man delves into shifting pasts and a parallel present with photographs, clips of Marcello’s testimony about the Holocaust, anecdotes about soldiers, gangsters and casinos…. and five precious objects, which David somehow lost. From a personal perspective, this monologue touches on universal themes of identity, persecution and forced migration, while questioning notions of masculinity. It is an interactive, multidisciplinary solo performance that balances between stand-up comedy, dramatic monologue and autoethnography. The performance invites the audience to reflect on their own unresolved parental issues – with pleasure. The stories of father and son span unimaginable conflicts and dizzying social changes.

David Labi is a London-born storyteller. He has lived in Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Berlin and now in Belgium. With his agency Good Point, he helps NGOs and cause-driven campaigns reach people with empathy and creativity. His artistic journey runs through workshops and experience design, magazine editing, TV news scriptwriting, filmmaking, literary translation, copywriting,… and since 2021 he has been taking the first steps toward performance theater. Inspired by the positive response to Pieces of a man, David is developing a “parental storytelling” workshop. In this participatory format, he works with people on the stories we tell ourselves about our parents, and how we can “rewrite” them to build more peaceful societies.

Text and play: David Labi – Coaching: Johan Petit – Technique:Tim Clement – A performance by David Labi in co-production with MARTHA!TENTATIEF. With the support of MESTIZO ARTS PLATFORM.