Romeo Castellucci - Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio

PLEASE NOTE! Location Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege - Jodenstraat 15 - 2000 Antwerpen The eighteenth century German poet Friedrich Hölderlin was so fascinated by the figure of Empedocles that he decided to write a modern tragedy about the life - or rather the death - of this ancient Greek natural philosopher. He is said to have thrown himself into Mount Etna to prove his divinity. Hölderlin's attempts at literature were fraught with difficulty: three successive versions of 'The Death of Empedocles' remained unfinished. This inspired Romeo Castellucci, always on the lookout for the essence of theatre, to create a new play. This time something very unusual happens: this image-maker has suddenly started using words. This is no coincidence, it seems. This time, it's all about reflecting on words, voice, speech and meaning. Castellucci lets Hölderlin's words echo around a gymnasium. Hence the subtitle 'Gym exercises to Friedrich Hölderlin's 'The Death of Empedocles' to be performed in a gymnasium'. Four young women wearing uniform appear to be members of a closed community. Are they pupils at a school? They perform a stylised scene in which they try to express the text in an intriguing way. One thing seems certain: they have left the theatre behind them in order to find their own theatre. In this 'Giudizio, Possibilità, Essere' (Judgement, Opportunity, Being) Castellucci once again gives us food for thought, in his unique, intriguing style.