Magne van den Berg - Love Declaration (forever)
Magne van den Berg (Enschede, 1967) graduated from the Amsterdam School of the Arts (Mime programme) in 1994, made collaborative performances until 1999, and directed some of her own writing. From 2006, she focused mainly on writing.
In 2008, she won the H.G Van der Vies Prize for The long aftermath of a short notice. The play With my father in bed (due to circumstances) was nominated for the Taalunie Toneelschrijfprijs in 2014 and selected for the Neue Stücke Festival Wiesbaden. In 2016, she won the Taalunie Toneelschrijfprijs with I Don't Play Medea. Many texts have been translated, into English, German, Portuguese, French, and Spanish. Currently, especially Privés de feuilles les arbres ne bruissent pas (Bare trees don't rustle) and Long devéloppement d'une bref entretien (The long aftermath of a short communication) are widely performed in French-speaking regions. In addition to writing drama, she works closely with choreographer Nicole Beutler and youth theatre producer Timothy de Gilde.
ABOUT LOVE DECLARATION (FOREVER)
Love Declaration (forever) is a declaration of love by four actors - who have been on stage for forty years - to their audiences. As in any long relationship, the love between actor and audience is not without struggle.
The work is a shadow version of Peter Handke's controversial 1966 Publikumsbeschimpfung, which swept aside the theatre laws of the time. Love Declaration inverts the text into a seductive and confusing paean to theatre and audiences.