FREETOWN

Your vacation starts where civilization ends

Three women meet up in an West-African country. The resort built for European tourists offers not only heavenly beaches, an inviting ocean and comfortable lodgings; there is also the possibility of coming into contact with strong, dark young men who smile enticingly and are prepared to do anything you ask of them for a not so exorbitant price.

In FREETOWN it’s all about carefree pleasures, about social and sexual emancipation, about power differences and how they are glossed over – and all that against the background of a society that is predominantly characterized by oppression and despair.

The island of freedom lies in an ocean of misery; outside the double enclosure of the holiday complex the moans of the real world are audible.

The makers drew inspiration for this production from the film Vers le Sud (2005) by the French director Laurent Cantet. Freetown tells a different story to the film and is set in different surroundings. Similarly the production is about three women in search of affection on distant beaches, who know full well that you never get something for nothing.

Selected for the Theaterfestival Flanders and the Dutch Theater Festival.

Lies Pauwels received the Colombina 2011 for her performance in FREETOWN. The Colombina is the award for the most impressive female, supporting actress of the past theatre season.