“Celebration (s)”: death is not an end

“Like many, my father was in a nursing home. Furthermore, He was at the end of his life, as we knew, the doctor said. However, It fell a fortnight after the ‘Large closure ‘”explains the actor, in full rehearsal. Therefore, “”We were able. For example, in extremis, bring him home but as there was a suspicion of Covid – While it would seem that it was not the case: we stayed near him and no one had it – when he died, we had to follow the procedure. For example, An hour after his death. Furthermore, we had to put it in a large white plastic bag and there was no possibility of making a vigil or anything. In addition, We were ten at the funeral, it lasted fifteen minutes, it was appalling. Similarly, I immediately thought of Antigone “celebration (s)”: death not end who we refuse to bury our brother Polynice. For example, “

Recharge by laughter

Professor of theater. Similarly, Etienne Van Der Belen likes this text which touches it in the heart and, very quickly, the desire to write on this painful subject of impossible mourning makes its way. “”I told myself that I had to write. that I create something around that, otherwise I felt that I was going to create an illness, that it would remain something heavy. There was a desire to see how I could celebrate my father.“

Collective repair – "celebration (s)": death not end

“I think there is. from Etienne, at the beginning, a feeling of revolt “completes his writing accomplice and director. “”We are not going to forget these dark hours of confinement. but, on the other hand, there is a very strong desire for repair. For him. she takes place on the set, by inventing “celebration (s)”: death not end a ritual, a celebration for his father – this is the objective – which becomes a collective reparation. “

A great traveler. Paul, Etienne’s father, was curious about the cultures of the world and that seemed natural to the son of asking himself the question: how are we celebrated in other traditions? “”I had the feeling that there was an impoverishment of all celebrations in Europe. compared to barely thirty years agohe said. There are traditions where the relationship to death is much richer. because there is still the belief of a suite which, today, is less widespread in our society. With Barbara, we realized that in other funeral rites, there is more joy, songs, dances. It is a relationship with death that seems more natural. With us, today, we die in the hospital, there is a kind of impoverishment. “

To feed his words. the “celebration (s)”: death not end actor brings together testimonies, people who, like him, lost a loved one during this insane period of the covid and quickly notes that all these stories are alike. “”So we started from the idea of the intimate that joins the universalstill specifies Barbara Sylvain. The goal was that people come out more in love with life than when they got home. It is a work of appeasement, of remailing of the pump of life.“

Hidden, sometimes, behind a mask, Etienne Van der Belen changes people with twice nothing. “”It allows you to approach a part of mystery. Moments when the actor is no longer Etienne but something else, a character“, Said Barbara nicely.”As you go, as an actor, he puts himself ‘in the shoes of … ‘and fades “.

For this reunion, wanted by the public, to be a real collective immersion.

• All info and the program on www.theatrelepublic.be/RETROUVAILLES-2025-2026