Peeping Tom: Child (Kind)

Peeping Tom is a Belgian dance theatre company, founded by Gabriela Carrizo (Italy/Argentina) and Franck Chartier (France). Everything at Peeping Tom starts from a hyperrealist setting. The space feels familiar, such as a retirement home in Vader (Father), two trailer homes in 32 rue Vandenbranden or a living room in Le Salon. The creators then break open this realism and begin to defy the logic of time, space and mood. You become the witness of what usually remains hidden and unsaid, discovering nightmares, fears and desires. Presented with rich imagery, a fascinating battle arises, against one’s environment and against oneself. Since its foundation in 2000 in Brussels, Peeping Tom has presented its creations around the world. The company has received many important awards, including an Olivier Award in the UK for 32 rue Vandenbranden, a Patrons Circle Award at the International Arts Festival in Melbourne as well as several selections for the Belgian and Dutch Theatre Festivals. Peeping Tom is supported by the Flemish Authorities. Several of its shows have featured at the London International Mime Festival in partnership with the Barbican, 32 Rue Vandenbranden (2015), and the first two parts of its family-themed trilogy, Mother (2018) and Father (2019).
 

One of our starting points for Child (Kind) was a child that didn’t have any parents, that doesn’t know what a home or a family is. A child living in a dark forest at the foot of menacing cliffs, without a father or a mother. We’re used to children being loved and protected, but in Child, that’s not the case.

At the same time, we try to show how children express fears that arise from this lack of supportive (parental) framework. What happens in traumatic situations? How do children handle their quest for truth? And how do they organise their world through fantasy, role-playing or imitations in order to master certain situations or dynamics? In the show, we see how this child builds a world that has its own logic, which becomes something sombre, terrible and absurd.

For us, the space is always central to what we create. Here, the forest represents a hyper-realistic space, a place where you lose yourself. It’s a real space, but at the same time it’s something constructed, theatrical. In the piece we play with this contrast between what is constructed and what is real.

Peeping Tom wishes to thank Heloïse da Costa, Theater FroeFroe, Institut del Teatre, Jan Daems, Leen Mertens, Uma Victoria Chartier, Ina Peeters and the original extras: Farners, Eva, Elmo, Vera, Roger, Raisa, Mercè, Xefo, Amadeo, Rita, Gloria, Ariadne, Jonah, Sille, Leandro, Flo, Grace, Luke, Lucie, Cyril, Jill, Jan, An, Octavia, Germaine