Lodewijk

“A woman knows instinctively when things must die and when things must live." Clarissa Pinkola Estés Lodewijk tells the absurd story of a woman who suddenly finds herself stuck with a baby in formaldehyde. What the fuck?! The baby’s name is Lodewijk, and he has been sleeping in a glass coffee jar for over fifty years. This strange, wondrous being confronts her with a painful memory: years ago, she secretly had an abortion. Face to face with Lodewijk, she realizes that this secret wants to come out. In a darkly comic and confrontational stream of words, she breaks through her shame, with Lodewijk as her silent counterpart. In her new solo performance, theatre maker and performer Sofie Kramer searches for hidden desires and ancient demons, in the twilight zone between control and surrender. From a hyper-personal perspective, she explores grief and the contradictory entanglement of life and death. What does it mean to bring a human being into the world? What kind of world, for god’s sake, puts babies in coffee jars? Lodewijk, am I your mother now? Lodewijk is an intoxicating mix of text, physical theatre, music, and visual art. With a dark sense of humor and equal sensitivity, Sofie takes on taboos around sex, death, and birth. Vulnerable, fiery, and brutally honest.   concept, text, direction, performance Sofie Kramer movement coach Keren Levi dramaturgy Lindertje Mans scenography and light design Hendrik Walther composition and sound design Luke Deane costume design and campaign image Sara Schoon writing coach Thomas Verbogt final direction Hanna van Mourik Broekman voice liberation Rosanne Groenendijk production Podium Bloos co-production Via Zuid and Circuit Oproer residencies Werkplaats Zwolse Theaters, Podium Bloos, Verkadefabriek and De Grote Post marketing Cultpr thanks to BNG Cultuurfonds, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and NORMA Fonds