Make Banana Cry is a critical and destabilizing theatrical performance questioning Asian stereotypes and the transmission of cultural identity. The work confronts western perceptions of the ‘Asian Fantasy’ in a durational theatre parade drawing on the background of the diverse cast of Canadian actors.

As aesthetic embodiments of ‘Asian-ness’ become more predominant in Western art and pop culture, the performers share a desire to reflect on these representations and explode the mechanisms that create these categorisations within today’s appropriative landscape.

With a unique theatrical design by visual artist Dominique Petrin.

Visual Installation – Dominique Petrin
Cast – Ellen Furey, Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, Dana Michel, Simon Portigal
Produced in collaboration with – MAI (Montreal, Arts Interculturels)

Make Banana Cry is a critical and destabilizing theatrical performance questioning Asian stereotypes and the transmission of cultural identity. The work confronts western perceptions of the ‘Asian Fantasy’ in a durational theatre parade drawing on the background of the diverse cast of Canadian actors.

As aesthetic embodiments of ‘Asian-ness’ become more predominant in Western art and pop culture, the performers share a desire to reflect on these representations and explode the mechanisms that create these categorisations within today’s appropriative landscape.

With a unique theatrical design by visual artist Dominique Petrin.

Visual Installation – Dominique Petrin
Cast – Ellen Furey, Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, Dana Michel, Simon Portigal
Produced in collaboration with – MAI (Montreal, Arts Interculturels)

In Ghost Writer and the Broken Hand Break, Warlop works with the idea of a western version of the whirling dance known from Sufi dervishes. Three performers spin in a circle for 45 minutes – a movement that in Sufi ceremonies is meant to induce a state of religious ecstasy. Keeping with Miet Warlop’s style, the whirling is enriched by making music. It becomes an experiment in perception, a dizzy feeling, a reflection on the spirit of our time. The mixture of whirling dance, recitation and concert moves on the thin line between self-control and loss of control. How can we find a balance between self-control and devotion? What shape are the spirits that write the story of our life?

Concept and direction – Miet Warlop
Music and performance – Pieter De Meester, Wietse Tanghe, Joppe Tanghe, Miet Warlop, Midas Heuvinck
Lyrics – Raimundas Malasauskas, Miet Warlop, Pieter De Meester
Technique and production – Niels Antonissen, Mathias Batsleer, Arno Truyens
Sound Engineer – Bart Van Hoydonck
Light Design – Henri Emmanuel Doublier
Costumes – Karolien Nuyttens
Produced by – Miet Warlop /Irene Wool vzw & NTGent
Co-produced by – Arts Centre Vooruit Gent, HAU Hebbel am Ufer – Berlin
With the support of – City of Ghent, Actoral. 17 Marseille

In Ghost Writer and the Broken Hand Break, Warlop works with the idea of a western version of the whirling dance known from Sufi dervishes. Three performers spin in a circle for 45 minutes – a movement that in Sufi ceremonies is meant to induce a state of religious ecstasy. Keeping with Miet Warlop’s style, the whirling is enriched by making music. It becomes an experiment in perception, a dizzy feeling, a reflection on the spirit of our time. The mixture of whirling dance, recitation and concert moves on the thin line between self-control and loss of control. How can we find a balance between self-control and devotion? What shape are the spirits that write the story of our life?

Concept and direction – Miet Warlop
Music and performance – Pieter De Meester, Wietse Tanghe, Joppe Tanghe, Miet Warlop, Midas Heuvinck
Lyrics – Raimundas Malasauskas, Miet Warlop, Pieter De Meester
Technique and production – Niels Antonissen, Mathias Batsleer, Arno Truyens
Sound Engineer – Bart Van Hoydonck
Light Design – Henri Emmanuel Doublier
Costumes – Karolien Nuyttens
Produced by – Miet Warlop /Irene Wool vzw & NTGent
Co-produced by – Arts Centre Vooruit Gent, HAU Hebbel am Ufer – Berlin
With the support of – City of Ghent, Actoral. 17 Marseille