Which eurosceptic dares to go to Het Zuidelijk Toneel at @TFBoulevard?

Or a TED talk catching on often has largely to do with the speaker. This global craze of pimped-up powerpoints could become a global craze because these 'talks' are delivered by heart in front of an audience. So they are theatrical things, these TED Talks, and that makes them interesting to watch even on a screen.

Lucas De Man, director, actor, showman and city artist of Den Bosch has now made one such TED talk and it can be experienced in the theatre. He uses elements from television documentaries, but turns them into theatre. And in doing so, he makes more of an impression than any TV documentary.

Lucas the Man was taken by Matthijs Rümke sent on a Tour d'Europe. Matthijs Rümke was artistic director of Het Zuidelijk Toneel until illness prevented him from continuing. Lucas de Man succeeds him, and this Tour d'Europe is supposed to be his coming of age, in the same way that young men in France used to have to tour French cities to gain knowledge (this is how the cycling race got its name).

For a month, Lucas De Man toured Europe with a film crew. He spoke to philosophers and researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs, aid workers and thinkers. Subject was the European dream, and whether we had anything left over from the Renaissance, when thinkers like Erasmus and Luther, and travellers like Columbus and Vespucci determined Europe's future.

The programme resulting from that tour is a nice mix of theatre and television: the interviews made on the road are shown on screens while De Man talks to them and manipulates them. This creates an engaging show, and the message of this committed programme comes across well.

But it only really kicks in when The Man leaves technology behind and just starts acting. The transformation is there, suddenly he is the manager of a squat in southern Italy, where refugees have found a good home and built a successful community together.

Suddenly there is the power of theatre: live, that confrontation of the actor's flesh and blood with the viewer's flesh and blood. And yes, Lucas De Man is in favour of more cooperation in Europe, in favour of open borders and in favour of more humanity. But anyone looking over the history of our continent cannot help but conclude that we cannot survive behind closed borders. We need new inflows, new ideas, fresh blood. And we protect the newcomers and ourselves by something simple. What that is, you must go and see in the theatre.

Rarely has a performance been able to provoke such topical insight.

Wondering if eurosceptics actually dare to come to this piece. Those who dare, let us know in the comments.

To be seen at Theatre Festival Boulevard.