Vreemd Ding is an imaginative adventure with no recognasible language

In Vreemd Ding by HNTjong and the Flemish theatre company Martha!tentative, no recognisable language is spoken and therefore the performance is also very suitable for anyone who does not (yet) understand Dutch. The performance is about strange customs and strange rules. On Sunday 8 December, children aged 6 and over and their parents, grandparents or guardians can experience Vreemd Ding in the Maaspodium. Ticket sales are via this link.

In Strange Thing, a child and her mother live together in a colourful living room with a sofa and a television. They do everything together: flower arranging, cleaning up, singing songs, doing laundry. Day in, day out. The curious child tries very hard to listen carefully to what is asked of her. Only, she doesn't get it. What happens when she decides to break the rules and go her own way?

Growing up between two cultures

Actress, theatre maker and creator of Strange Thing Evgenia Brendes was born in the latter days of the Soviet Union, in 1980s Kazakhstan. At 12, she moved with her parents to Belgium where she grew up among different languages and cultures. The impact of leaving your homeland and finding your own identity in a new world form the background of her work.

For the performance Strange Thing, Evgenia Brendes and her co-creator and actor Bram Coopmans drew inspiration from the picture books of illustrator, graphic novel writer and Oscar-winner Shaun Tan. The final direction is by illustrator and theatre-maker Jef van Gestel.