Reading Room 4
Staged reading (EN)
Ahilan Ratnamohan – Alle woorden die ik nog niet kende
BIO:
Ahilan Ratnamohan (°1984) is a choreographer, actor, and performer. After attempting a professional football career in Europe, he settled in Belgium in 2013. His work stems from themes he experiences firsthand as an emigrated former athlete: sport and language.
His exploration of football’s artistic potential led to Klapping, his own urban dance style. The duality between his native English—which is not the language of his Sri Lankan parents—and his many foreign homes makes him an expert by experience in his own linguistic research.
His work tours globally at festivals such as Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Julidans, and LIFT. He is a resident artist at Kaaitheater and works with the Robin collective. He won the Roel Verniers Prize and the TheaterTekstTalent grant. Recently, his production Josse Jnr. (LOD Muziektheater) was selected for the TheaterFestival.
SYNOPSIS:
Ahilan Ratnamohan is a language enthusiast who is usually learning at least two languages at the same time. Although Dutch is constantly all around him, he put that language aside for a long time. During his first years in Belgium, he compiled a list of 840 Dutch words he didn’t yet know - words he came across in books, articles, and brochures circulating in the arts sector.
In All the words I didn’t know Ahilan attempts to use all 840 words from his list in a monologue. During this exercise, various questions about language arise - literal ones, but also on a social and political level. Why does he want to improve his Dutch right now? What does it mean to inherit a word from Thierry Baudet? Is it really a compliment when someone congratulates you on your Dutch? Will this monologue even be understandable to Ahilan’s fellow migrants?
Translator: Shimanto Reza
Giovanni Brand – Zanger zonder volk
BIO:
Giovanni Brand (°1994) is a Rotterdam-based performer, writer, and director. He studied at the Theaterschool Rotterdam and graduated in 2020 from the Performance program at the Toneelacademie Maastricht, where he now also works as the program’s coordinator. His work brings together personal narratives and social themes, often with a sharp focus on identity and representation. Driven by a sense of personal urgency, his performances shed light on marginalized histories and intimate, painful stories that often go unheard.
Blending music and performance into a unique mix, he has made an impact with productions such as The Crying Gypsykid and Mule. In co-production with Likeminds, he created the critically acclaimed site-specific performance Zanger Zonder Volk (Singer Without a People), which earned him a nomination for the 2024 Toneelschrijfprijs. He was previously also nominated for the DNA Next Award. Most recently, he created the intimate and powerful performance I Love Roma in co-production with Werkplaats Walhalla.
SYNOPSIS:
Zanger Zonder Volk (Singer Without Audience) by Giovanni Brand is set within the closed world of a traveller camp. The performance follows Jaanie, an illiterate mother, and her two sons. While the eldest son remains low-literate, the youngest goes to school, allowing outside influences to penetrate their hermetically sealed community. As the family slowly falls apart, the youngest son finds himself torn between two worlds: the caravan on wheels or the brick house.
While many municipalities in the Netherlands do everything they can to dismantle traveller camps— arguing they sustain a lifestyle that no longer fits modern times—this production raises poignant questions about living in a closed society. Is it better to break out or to stay? How far must you adapt to fit into ‘normal’ society, and what role do language and literacy play in that struggle?
Translator: Michele Hutchison and Damian Le Bas