Grandpa Puss; or how God disappeared

by Lisaboa Houbrechts / guest performance laGeste, Ghent Belgium

A family epic about three generations, at the center of which is a twelve-year-old girl, the granddaughter of the titular "grandfather with the cats": she questions her grandfather about the unspeakable things that happened to him as a child in the care of a Catholic priest. This spiral of sexual violence continues through the family history from Belgium in the 1940s to the present day, putting faith in a good God to the test.

Interwoven with the sublime music and poetry of Johann Sebastian Bach's St. John Passion and enchanting choreography sequences, the result is an intense collage that is as disturbing as it is sublime. The young director, who has been a member of the management team at Toneelhuis Antwerpen since 2022, masterfully reworks her own story and says of the evening: "It's a dark story. It's about children who are trapped in spirals of violence. The urge to break through this can unleash an incredible will to live and imagination, but can also lead to destruction. The space between theater and opera is the perfect art form to radically express this most intimate of emotions."

Duration: 1:45 hours (no intermission)
In Dutch with German and English surtitles

German premiere

February 2, 2024, 7:30 pm, Thalia Theater
February 3, 2024, 7:30 pm, Thalia Theater
Afterwards on February 3: Prof. Dr. Hanna Klimpe (HAW Hamburg) in conversation with Lisaboa Houbrechts and ensemble

Co-production with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Toneelhuis Antwerpen, Le Phénix Scène nationale de Valenciennes, MC 93 Paris, Opéra de Lille and Holland Festival Amsterdam, Taxshelter, Stad Gent and Vlaamse Overheid