Funeral full of inconvenience and black humor from mime collective Het Paradijs

The traveling theater festival De Parade has arrived at its final destination in Amsterdam (12 to 28 August). Although the Martin Luther King Park looked a little quieter in the opening weekend than during previous editions, the stands in various theaters were packed. Like with Alto from dance collective 155 and theater makers Magic Tom & Yuri, who pay tribute to subcultures from twenty years ago with their hilarious dance performance (think: altos, metalheads and skaters).

Vals Verlangen by theater group Gouden Bergen was also urgently needed, in which actors Ferhat Kaplan and Yeliz Dogan delve into the homesickness of the first generation of Turkish migrants in the Netherlands. And they do that with speed and humor, so that it never gets bogged down in sentiment.

Shenanigans

Starting this week, there will also be plenty to laugh about at the three-headed mime collective Het Paradijs. The show Descend into the grave opens with a funeral where three men (Ivar Schutte, Vincent van Woerkom and guest star Aleksej Ovsiannikov) and two women (guest stars Melyn Chow and Sanne Bakkers) meet. The tension in their controlled bodies and in the hall is initially manageable. During the somewhat lengthy funeral service, the first antics are performed with the coffin, with Bakkers in particular scoring with her timid, moving look. The discomfort of the five is further explored during the obligatory cup of coffee after the ceremony.

After that, the roof can come off; director Luuk Weers overwhelms with pumping music, chaotic booing and aggressive movements all over the stage. Until the chest claims the mimes one by one and Weers has the mimes squirm across the stage like zombies.

Anyone who can see the black humor of an uncomfortable funeral and of the life that has to go on will enjoy this silly funeral march.