His eighteenth theater program. André Manuel (57) says that beauty is the only answer to the ugliness that surrounds us. Then you involuntarily look back with old eyes at the grim period when he went into it with his legs straight.
How he tested and defied the shock resistance of the audience, saw entire tribes of people leave the hall prematurely and loudly, and cheerfully noted that he ‘never suffers from a large audience.’ Of course: he is into the polarization, the shouting, the tirades with corrosive hydrochloric acid.
Embarrassment is foreign to him. Yet he is not after effect and as a maker he is averse to dubious glamour. Television is not for him, but the image of the sincere Twente resident remains, just like his solid story. In The sick mind he is not a collector of incidents or anecdotes.
He doesn’t emphasize it. Merciful? Not quite. “We just do whatever,” is the fierce cry that Manuel uses as a catchy binding agent through a mix of cynicism and irony. The joke density in the closing argument is high. Absurdist in tone, at times, in its caricature of the kind of intolerance that takes a ‘religious’ guise.
It is a great achievement to introduce the figure of the writer Salman Rushdie in this context. His book The Satanic Verses led to an Islamic man attempting an attempt on his life. Rushie paid a huge price. He was declared an outlaw. On this Manuel bases the statement that we should not miss the opportunity to heroically defend the freedom of the word. Resistance is necessary, while we are in the middle of an indescribable chaos of shocking violence and unmitigated racism.
He throws in three songs. Although, with André Manuel you know that they are not cowardly sing-alongs, but nodes. Jester and clown at the same time. In doing so, he forges an alliance with the audience, which has grown along with him. Got older. Yes. And that will be the choice.
Hardly a name falls from the political spectrum. He himself is willing to take coals out of the fire. Very personal too. Apparently he does not want to avoid mentioning two theater personalities – the late Jeroen van Merwijk and the late Jan Rot – as examples of success. Ultimately, their CD sales increased significantly.
No, he is not sensitive at all, but I don’t see it as a plaintive cry for attention. He’s in a cycle. The following titles are The divine body and The lonely soul . Manuel can go forward for six years.
Depiction
Event André Manuel Depiction The sick mind production Bunker Theater Affairs Seen 5/10 Delfzijl, De Molenberg Audience 130 Still to be seen 11/10 Stadskanaal, 12/10 Steenwijk, 18/10 Hardenberg, 20/10 Groningen, 2/11 Drachten, 3/11 Franeker, 24/11 Winschoten, 18/1 Leeuwarden, 31/1 Heerenveen, 10/2 Hoogeveen, 17/2 Emmen
★★★ ★ ☆