'Theatre is an exercise in disappearing,' says Jan Fabre. You can find out how this is done on two weekends. With 'Het is theater zoals te verwachten en te voorzien was' and 'De macht der theaterlijke dwaasheden' Jan Fabre revives two of his earliest pieces. In the early eighties they had a huge impact. And immediately gave the maker a place in theatre history. Repetition, physicality and a high performance content are the thread that runs through both pieces.
In 'Het is theater zoals te verwachten en te voorzien was' (1982), eight performers execute everyday activities non-stop. And do this for eight hours, the length of a normal working day. There are no stories or characters, only situations. Smoking, spinning around, dressing and undressing themselves, walking on the spot. While doing this the performers recite names from art history, or describe a day in key words and half sentences. Nearing exhaustion, they reveal something of themselves. Reality is thus given a place on stage where normally fiction dominates. Amidst the red, gold and velvet of the theatre, that beautiful dream machine, Fabre lights a fuse. And the explosion can be heard for miles.