Vincent Macaigne strikes me as a director you shouldn't fight with. Right in the first seconds of Requiem 3 he rams right on top with the most hysterical opening scene I have seen in ages, and keeps chopping relentlessly for 80 minutes. It takes a while to get through. But suddenly the subtle text actually causes deep emotion, in this tsunami of blood, violence, blood, smeared nudity, and more blood.
The king is dead. On the right, the royal cadaver hangs burned and undressed on the ropes, like a lynched American mercenary dragged through the streets of Fallujah. From the clouds of smoke, two hyperactive court jesters sprint onto the playing floor, whitewashed and smeared with blood, screaming non-stop. They do so so insanely loud that you can hear their voices break. Their rigged, cartoonish style of play is reminiscent of Jan Kounen's over-the-top cinema, such as Capitain X.
At Requiem 3 we witness a bizarre succession to the throne. Brothers Cain and Abel vie for the crown. Prince Abel is the fated successor. Literally. Because after rejecting his son Hamlet - a whimpering baby in a buggy - and coolly dumping his wife Sarah - 'Today love died' - Abel is booed, stripped, doused with chlorine, quicklime, soda, gallons of fake blood and gold powder by the two demonic court jesters.
First he was a ragamuffin, cry the jesters, but now he must become king.
Abel undergoes all humiliations in the hope of gaining power. In a sequence of Hindu push ups he wriggles lickingly across the floor, leaving a trail of blood and gold. Then they force him to throw up: the final test. He passes and gets a toga, sword and paper crown. Ex-wife Sarah stands by and watches. Screaming, she tries to remind him of the ideals he has now given up for power. Older brother Kain swears revenge - entirely in the Biblical tradition: 'Resentment is the ONLY feeling of love I have left in this shithole.'
The speech waterfall in Requiem 3 is almost impossible to follow at times, but amazingly funny. Sarcastic cries, one-liners and witty asides race by, which, combined with the excessive noise, form a disruptive contrast. Abel, after his coronation: "Now I am king of world and space. So today the frozen meal will taste extra good to me."
This is the first time director Macaigne (b. 1978) has appeared at the Holland Festival with his work. Requiem 3 is a third staging of one of his earlier works, and however extreme, Macaigne manages to make the sibling strife touchingly palpable.
At one point, Cain and Abel roll intimately entwined on the floor. Wrestling as rivals, and as blood brothers. A TV with a slideshow of black-and-white childhood photos of the two actors hangs in the background throughout the performance. They whisper in each other's ear. One says he regrets ever throwing away the other's pinball collection. The other whispers back: so that was you, asshole. For a moment they forgive each other.
Requiem 3 can still be seen 5 June at the Westergasfabriek Zuiveringshal West at 20:30. More info
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