Jan Fabre . Troubleyn

'The King of Plagiarism' will open at the 2005 Avignon Festival and forms a diptych with the 1996 'The Emperor of Loss'. The issue in these monologues, both performed by Dirk Roofthooft, is Jan Fabre's questioning of the role of the artist and the associated status of originality and authenticity. In 'The Emperor of Loss' we see a clown who, like every artist, needs an audience and at the same time detests this need. At the end the clown changes into an angel and becomes pure spirit: the ultimate metamorphosis. In 'The King of Plagiarism' we meet the angel again, but now in the form of a surgeon. Since he envies people for their imperfection, he comes back down to earth again. 'The essence of these monologues is concentration,' says Jan Fabre. 'They are a condensation of intense feelings that can change very rapidly. This demands a lot from the person on stage. He has to be an emotional athlete.' A challenge for Dirk Roofthooft.