BIGMOUTH

SKaGeN with Richard Jordan Productions in a co-production with De Tijd & STUK

(Belgium)

15 March – 20 March

Loft, Q Theatre

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Take 2,500 years of oratory, five microphones and one-man polyglot powerhouse, Valentijn Dhaenens, and you have the theatrical loop-de-loop that is BigMouth, making its New Zealand debut at Auckland Arts Festival 2016.

An international festival sell-out, BigMouth is a jaw dropping tour-de-force exploring the good, the bad and the downright ugly of rhetoric over the ages.

Ingeniously weaving together fragments from history’s most famous and not-so-famous speeches, Flemish artist Valentijn Dhaenens traverses seminal sermons, declarations of war, farewells, final arguments and eulogies from across time, spanning characters and occasions from the last two millennium.

From Socrates to Malcolm X, Goebbels to JFK, George W. Bush to Osama bin Laden, Dhaenens shape- shifts, croons and loops his way through history, examining racism, justice and human vulnerability as he goes, and exposing the biggest con of the talker’s trade – that the voices of good and evil are rhetorically indistinguishable; that it’s not what you say but how you say it that matters.

Clever, compelling and captivating,  BigMouth is an actor’s tour de force and a unique lesson in the power of words. Be prepared to be rendered speechless.

‘brilliant…a fascinating experience’ – The Guardian, UK

‘sheer, hair-raising entertainment’ – The List, UK

SEASON DETAILS:

Auckland Arts Festival is core funded by Auckland Council