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CPH STAGE: Energetic, fun, cheeky, flippant and captivating performance art

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May 25th, 2017


This article is more than 7 years old.

Once again, CPH STAGE brings important international stage art to Denmark. This year, internationally-acclaimed visionary stage auteur Kirsten Dehlholm from Hotel Pro Forma has exclusively selected the opening show on May 31 – ‘The Blind Poet’ by Jan Lauwers and Needcompany.

This innovative opening performance should set the standard for the whole festival (photo: Bea Borges)

‘The Blind Poet’ gives the audience a unique opportunity to experience an extraordinarily innovative European performance.

This company truly belongs to the Champions League of the performing arts. ‘The Blind Poet’ is produced by Belgian director Jan Lauwers and will be presented by CPH STAGE, in close collaboration with The Royal Danish Theatre.

It begins with the family trees …
This year’s opening show is international on more than one level. To begin with, the play has been created by the international, multilingual and inter-disciplinary performance group Needcompany. Director Jan Lauwers also lives up to and underlines the festival’s important focus on diversity. He does this by letting the show take its starting point in the family trees, cultures and languages of the performers.

It has already become a proud tradition at CPH STAGE to open with an international performance selected by a prominent member of the performing arts society. This creates an essential perspective on the program, which in itself is a project driven by a fruitful collaboration between CPH STAGE and international theatres, artists and other members of the society. Director of Hotel Pro Forma, Kirsten Dehlholm, was an obvious choice. She is the ‘grande dame’ of the Danish performing arts.

The Blind Poet’ is original
“Energetic, fun, cheeky, flippant and catchy. ‘The Blind Poet’ is an original bet on a performance, that will make performance theatre, acting, dance, music and storytelling unite at a higher level,” Kirsten Dehlholm declares, when asked about why she chose ‘The Blind Poet’ for this years opening show.

This spectacular performance explores identity as a concept in the current multicultural Europe. It creates a new story that is based on different nationalities, cultures and languages. Seven scenes, significantly melodic and very different, ask the question: How much of history has been determined by lies, random meetings and events?

‘The Blind Poet’ plays May 31 at 19:00 at The Royal Danish Theatre/The Old Stage right after the opening of CPH STAGE festival centre at the foyer at The Royal Danish Playhouse.

After the show, there will be a talk with Kirsten Dehlholm and director Jan Lauwers.


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