Big Bears Cry Too is a performance that deals with the vulnerability that people experience in this large and incomprehensible universe. A series of objects literally fly onto the stage, each with something to say about individuality in the world. There is a large – a too large – plastic heart that can only be restricted by letting a small amount of air out. Then there is a massive pill that is supposed to make you happier, but the actual result is that you no longer recognize yourself. And then there is a bear that falls victim to its own excessive cuteness. We end up in a universe of coloured rain and never-ending symbols.
Springville, Dragging the Bone, Mystery Magnet, Fruits of Labor – each one an intriguing title of an equally intriguing show that was successfully unleashed upon the world in the last 15 years by artist and dramatist Miet Warlop. This production, Big Bears Cry Too, marks her first production for an audience of six years and older.
It was to be expected that a born artist such as Miet Warlop would not make any concessions – not even for a theatre full of over-sixes. As a consequence, Big Bears Cry Too, Warlop’s first production for children, provides the little spectators with an initiation into her whimsical world with all its fascinating creatures. And perhaps even into the grating truth that lies behind the images. (…) You can see it in the adults’ faces: “How will we ever be able to explain this?” It is precisely in this dauntless challenge that we find the boldness this children’s performance displays. Come on, fathers, mothers and teachers, start explaining: about this unpredictable life with all its fears and in all its weird and wonderful beauty.
Evelyne Coussens – De Morgen – 25/04/2018
Besides ping-pong balls, plastic sheeting, and dyes, leaf blowers are Big Bears Cry Too's greatest asset. Because everything is manually sent onto the stage on the spot, the performance takes on a character that is as wondrous and absurd as it is soothing and incongruous. Even though quite macabre things happen that you see but do not expect, and that are difficult to recount.
De Volkskrant – 6 August 2018
CREDITS
CONCEPT AND DIRECTION : Miet Warlop
Performers:
Wietse Tanghe / Christian Bakalov
Music and Lyrics:
Pieter De Meester, Joppe Tanghe, Wietse Tanghe, Miet Warlop
Technical Team:
Bennert Vancottem, Jurgen Techel, Pieter Kinoli, Frouke Van Gheluwe
Light Design: Henri Emmanuel Doublier
Assisted by:
Lila John, Karolien Nuyttens, Barbara Vackier, Ian Gyselinck, Geert Viaene (Amotec), Mathias Huybrighs
Outside Eye: Danai Anesiadou
Production and Technical Realisation: Miet Warlop / Irene Wool vzw (Ghent) and hetpaleis (Antwerp)
Co-production: Arts Centre Vooruit (Ghent), Gessnerallee Zürich (CH), Luzerner Theater (CH), TJP Centre Dramatique National Strasbourg (FR), AUAWIRLEBENTheaterfestival Bern (CH)
With the Support of: Flemish Authorities, City of Ghent, Kunstencentrum BUDA (Kortrijk)
Thanks to:
Jonas De Meester, Koen Demeyere, Marie Jeanne Symons, Bram Coeman, Koen Jansen, Maarten Van Cauwenberghe, Emma Van Roey, Michiel Goedertier (La Roy NV), Sparks FX, Seppe Cosyns, Hugh Roche Kelly, Mathias Batsleer, Johannes Vochten, Johan Vandenborn, Seppe Janssens, Sander Salden, Linde Raedschelders, Richard Kerkhofs, Carla Beeckmans, Jack Vincent
Big Bears Cry Too is a performance that deals with the vulnerability that people experience in this large and incomprehensible universe. A series of objects literally fly onto the stage, each with something to say about individuality in the world. There is a large – a too large – plastic heart that can only be restricted by letting a small amount of air out. Then there is a massive tablet that is supposed to make you happier, but the actual result is that you no longer recognise yourself. And then there is a bear that falls victim to its own excessive cuteness. We end up in a universe of coloured rain and never-ending symbols.
Springville, Dragging the Bone, Mystery Magnet, Fruits of Labor – each one an intriguing title of an equally intriguing show that was successfully unleashed upon the world in the last 15 years by artist and dramatist Miet Warlop. Today she is busy at the Antwerp youth theatre hetpaleis fine-tuning Big Bears Cry Too, her fist production for an audience of six and older. Why would a person who is internationally praised for her refreshing view of the performing arts dare to take on a show for kids?
Miet Warlop: ‘In recent years people have on occasion drawn my attention to the fact that the visuality and fantasy of my work could also appeal to children. I can imagine that a young audience can easily follow a show such as Springville but my work has developed since then. That means I’m now once again looking for a form that will also work for kids. My biggest struggle at the moment is the language – I’m no longer used to thinking and writing in Dutch. I worry about how much I should explain. Under normal conditions I show a series of images that speak for themselves, but will that also work for children?’
Incomprehensible universe
Miet Warlop: ‘Children ask adults the same questions. They also think about the endlessness of the universe, about the black hole and the immensity that is ungraspable. They also have fears that they can feel but not understand. Big Bears… it’s about the futility of humanity in that large and incomprehensible universe. The show finds us on the balcony of the world – “Ready for take-off”. A series of objects literally fly onto the stage, each with something to say about individuality in the world.
There is a large – a too large – plastic heart that can only be restricted by letting a small amount of air out. Then there is a massive tablet that is supposed to make you happier, but the actual result is that you no longer recognise yourself. And a mouth from which the front tooth shoots out and shatters into a thousand pieces…’
‘At the conclusion you end up in the universe and it emerges that the freedom you experience as a person on earth is just imaginary. There is no beginning and no end. You change shape constantly, being a body now but soon you will be something else entirely. On stage we translate that using coloured paint as rain, dropping it onto a platform of four by four meters filled with milk. When detergent is shot into the mixture, the fat in the milk starts to separate and beautiful drawings in a variety of colours appear. It’s a dynamism that can continue forever, just like the universe itself. There is something meditational about it, and it is representative of life too: a droplet that very briefly escapes the whole but that irrevocably returns to it.’
So what about the bear in the title?
Miet Warlop: ‘The bear explodes. He blows himself up because he is too cute; a fact he thinks is hilariously funny. It takes minutes for him to exhale like a balloon in the space above us. And when he eventually collapses, he is dissected and his ears, snout, nose and rump are thrown around. It’s not horrible at all; in fact, it’s an overdose of cuteness. It serves as a cushion against what we do not want to exhibit: the vulnerability of our souls.’
‘You can make yourself as afraid as you want to. You often create the things that you fear most in your own head. Your anxiety can be as extreme as you want it to be. But at the same time we live in turbulent times, and a lot of fear is generated. So what is the solution? Prescribe antidepressants for the entire universe? We have to teach kids to deal with their fears and help them to rationalise them. That is why I have shown the dissection and the ghost with the rolling ping pong ball eyes.’
‘I want the kids to somehow create a type of soundscape of the production. We are currently experimenting with microphones in the stands – wouldn’t it be great if the children could provide their own live commentary to accompany the scenes they are seeing on stage?’
