I AM BLOOD - a medieval fairy tale | Madách Nemzetközi Színházi Találkozó

Jan Fabre

I AM BLOOD - a medieval fairy tale 18

The Joint Performance of the National Theater, Troubleyn/Jan Fabre and Bozsik Yvette Company. Budapest-Antwerp, Hungary-Belgium

Director: Jan Fabre

In Hungarian, with English subtitles

1 hours 30 minutes, without breaks.

   "My theater is always art
it takes place in the zone of life after death.
My actors - my "beauty warriors" - perform dead heroes,
who appear and revive their lives."

In 2000, Jan Fabre wrote a theater text/poem about one of the basic components of the human body: blood. In his work, the central theme of which is the medieval body image, he also reveals the physical and mental wounds we have carried within us since then. The sharp opposite of religious thinking imbued with guilt is the unbridled, natural joy of life.

"Bodies trying to free themselves from physical limitations and taboos become liquid: they turn into blood, the body's fuel," says Fabre, in whose play the viewer is treated to bloody, gruesome, ritualistic scenes - torture, menstruation, castration, exorcisms, orgies, etc. he faces. In the apocalyptic, grotesque images, white-dressed brides, grooms, knights appear... Fabre seems to have lifted them from the paintings of Brueghel or Hieronymus Bosch. When writing the text, Fabre was also inspired by the mystical writings of the 12th-century Benedictine abbess, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, who described visions of the body, healing powers, plants and animals.

In 2001, I Am Blood was the first Fabre production, which was presented at the Avignon Festival, in the courtyard of the Papal Palace. Due to its success, the performance was presented again at the 2005 festival. The production, which traveled to several continents, was received with appreciation by the press and the public worldwide. Now, in 2024, at a time of new senseless wars and bloodshed, Fabre brings the text to life with a new concept, with the participation of the actors of the National Theater and the dancers of the Bozsik Yvette Company.

The Belgian Jan Fabre was born in Antwerp in 1958. Both in his country and abroad, he is considered one of the most versatile artists of his generation, who is not only a theater creator (writer and director), but also a visual artist.

He pushes the boundaries in all genres, his performances are poetic concepts, fascinating ancient rites, stage visions of the philosophical questions that concern him incessantly. At the 2024 Madách International Theater Meeting (MITEM), the Hungarian audience was able to get to know the eight-hour performance Mítikasz top (On top of the Olympus).

► ‘I AM A SERVANT OF BEAUTY’ - JAN FABRE

THE JOINT PERFORMANCE OF THE NATIONAL THEATER,
TROUBLEYN//JAN FABRE
AND BOZSIK YVETTE COMPANY

Translated by Ádám Vajna

Yvette Bozsik m.v.

m.v. /

Tímea Fülöp m.v.

Samantha Kettle m.v.

Koppány Sikó m.v.

The dance artists of the BOZSIK YVETTE COMPANY will participate:

Rebeka Tóth, Fanni Czvikli, Reetta Riikonen, Milena Eliza Marinkovits, Liliána Bozsányi, Gábor Ivanov, Levente Nagy, Zsombor Bodó, Zalán Nádas

Musicians:

János Ferenczi (Tuba), Attila Rieger (Guitar),
Marcell Szántó (Guitar), Ádám Kustán (Guitar)

Text, choreography, scenery and costumes

Jan Fabre

Assistant director and choreographer

Cédric Charron

CHAMBON ANNABELLE

HÖTTLER STELLA

Composer

Dag Taeldeman

Original music (2001)
Sebastien Cneude, Danny Dupont, Dag Taeldeman, Maarten Van Cauwenberghe

Dramaturgie

Miet Martens

Lighting designer

Woud Janssens

Assistant director

Péter Kernács

Dramaturgical associate

Réka Szabó

Assistant costume designer

Ranáta Gyöngyösi

Stage manager

Gábor Dobos

Krisztián Ködmen

Prompter

Orsolya Strack

Director

Jan Fabre

Main Stage

10 May 2025, 19:00

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Jan Fabre

Born in Antwerp in 1958, the visionary Belgian artist Jan Fabre is a leading innovator and one of the most influential figures in the international contemporary art world. Known for his contributions to visual art, theater, and literature, he is the first living artist who was invited for large-scale solo exhibitions at prestigious institutions such as the Louvre Museum in Paris in 2008 and the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg in 2017. He remains the only artist to have received the honor of the Cour d’Honneur at the Festival of Avignon on three separate occasions (2001, 2003, and 2005), and the only contemporary artist commissioned to create a new work for the Felsenreitschule at the Salzburg Festival in 2007.

With his theatre company Troubleyn, Jan Fabre has been touring the world for over 40 years, presenting his groundbreaking productions at major leading theatres and international festivals, receiving worldwide acclaim. He has won over 50 international theatre, dance and visual arts awards and prizes. Fabre's unique place in the Western theatre canon was recently confirmed by his inclusion in the prestigious series The Great European Stage Directors (Methuen/Drama), overseen by the influential theatre historian Simon Shepherd. The series begins with Stanislavski and ends with Jan Fabre.

He describes himself as a ‘consilience artist’, a merging of elements from different disciplines guided by fact-based theory and practice across disciplines. In theater, he redefined performance art with his concept of ‘real action and real time’ evident in works like This is Theatre as was to be Expected and Foreseen (1982) and The Power of Theatrical Madness (1984). His internationally renowned masterpiece, the monumental 24-hour performance Mount Olympus – To glorify the cult of tragedy (2015), celebrated Greek tragedy’s essence, followed by Peak Mytikas (On the top of Mount Olympus) (2023).

In visual art, Fabre’s symbolic use of materials like beetle wings, bone, and blood reveals his fascination with nature and spirituality. Permanent installations like Heaven of Delight at the Royal Palace of Brussels and The Man Who Measures the Clouds (1998) in global venues reflect his impact.

Beyond visual and performance art, Fabre is also a respected author. His numerous theater texts are highly regarded by theater directors, academics, and performers. His Jan Fabre Teaching Group promotes his method of ‘physiological acting’ to new generations, passing on his unique artistic language. Fabre’s daily reflections are captured in his ‘Night Diaries’ a series of personal and often poetic musings published in multiple languages.

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