Culture

A poetic and profoundly affecting theater piece created by Belgian-Flemish artist Jan Lauwers and his brilliant international ensemble Needcompany (Isabella’s room, 2004 Next Wave), The Deer House merges fact and fiction to create an entirely new reality. A family of Kosovan deer breeders (the fiction) encounters the horrors of war (the fact) as murder, revenge, and grief are expressed through a nimble balance of text, dance, music, and visuals. A surreal collection of images—rubber antlers, oversized ears, and nude bodies—populates this disturbing and enchanted fairy tale as disputes, games, dances, and songs culminate in an unforgettable message about mercy and forgiveness.

BAM Harvey Theater
120min, no intermission
Tickets: $25, 35, 45

In French and English with English titles

Text, direction, and set design by Jan Lauwers
Music by Hans Petter Dahl and Maarten Seghers (except Song for the Deer House written by Jan Lauwers)
Choreography by the company
Costumes by Lot Lemm
Lighting by Ken Hioco, Koen Raes
Sound design by Dré Schneider

A Production with the Salzburger Festspiele.
Coproduced by Schauspielhaus Zurich, PACT Zollverein (Essen) with the collaboration of deSingel (Antwerp), Kaaitheater (Brussels).