Alain Platel: the power of exceptional performances

One reason to go to the theatre is having a desire to be confronted with an exceptional experience. Theatre scholar Adrian Keer describes this experience perfectly: “to be ‘moved’ by a piece, to be shocked, stimulated, exhilarated, amused or horrified is, in effect to have a ‘gut reaction’ to it: a visceral as well as intellectual experience ‘that strikes us first in the belly then runs through our whole body’(1)”.

This depth of experience, this combination of a visceral and intellectual shock is not commonly found. As an example of a performance where he found this qualities, Keer mentions Alain Platel’s work Bernadetje, a performance he describes as “an event of extraordinary insight and intesnsity (2)”.

Platel has become a master in crafting these extraordinary experiences. Shocking, beautiful, intense - his numerous performances have accomplished a huge degree of public and critical acclaim through the years. His most recent work Out of Context, draws inspiration from his earlier life as a movement therapist. The performance was developed from an investigation into limited movements that grew into a rich choreography of bizarre beauty. This performance will be shown in Utrecht within the Festival a/d Werf. Below you can see a couple of interviews with Platel about this work. The interviews are in Dutch but the images speak for themselves.

NOTES:
1. Alan Keer, “Desire amongst the dodgems, Alain Platel ad the scene of seduction” in J.Kelleher and N. Ridout, eds., Contemporary Theatres in Europe, Routledge, London and New York:Routledge, 2006, pp.106-119, (p.106)
2. Ibid, p. 107 This performance was also shown in one of the earlier editions of the Festival a/d Werf.