Kidnapped – A Training Ground for the Brutality that is Coming – Rodrigo Batista & Mariana Senne

KIDNAPPED – A Training Ground for the Brutality that is Coming is een indringende en verrassende theatervoorstelling die onze tijd onder de loep neemt. What if the world we live in is actually a shared political hallucination – shaped by neoliberal ideas, colonial legacies, and a system that makes us believe there is “no alternative”?

Our choices – cultural, political and personal – are often driven by market interests and identity struggles, without the real power structures ever faltering.

Two characters, Terror and Compassion, take the audience on a journey that begins as a playful children’s show, but soon takes a dark turn. The audience is treated as “kidnapped children” and guided through a spiral-shaped dramaturgy filled with confronting political insights and historical ghosts – from world leaders to pop icons.

Read more in Wouter Hillaert’s fine review here!

Credits: Concept: Rodrigo Batista in collaboration with Mariana Senne // Direction: Rodrigo Batista // Performance: Mariana Senne and Rodrigo Batista // Text: Luiz Pimentel and Rodrigo Batista // Vídeo: Kathleen Kunath and Rodrigo Batista // Soundtrack: Cainã Vidor Technique // Lighting: Jurgen Fonteijn // Outside eye: Lotte Vrancken // Special effects: Renan Ramiro // Production: wp Zimmer // Co-production: Beursschouwsburg, Monty, Kunstenwerkplaats and workspacebrussels // With the support of Flanders State of the Art (Scholarships), MESTIZO ARTS PLATFORM/WIPCOOP and Detheatermaker // Photos Victoriano Moreno and Elodie Vreeburg // With thanks to Aline Olmos Steler, Annabel Reid, Benne Dousselaere, Campo, Caroline Lee-Jeong, Daniel Córdova, De Brakke Grond, Flávia Pinheiro, Jan Brokof, Joachim Robbrecht, Juliano Bonamigo, Katja Dreyer, KVS, Luise Meyer, MESTIZO ARTS PLATFORM/WIPCOOP, Peter Coppens, Proximamente Festival, Silvia Rigon, Tom Oliver, Flemish Community (research grant), Worm Rotterdam, Zé de Paiva, the children Samí and Antônio, and to all our mothers.