Laika & Circo Ripopolo (Belgium)

Cucinema

Theater show and dinner: language No Problem!

Kitchen and chaos are like water and fire. Cooking not only requires talent, but organisation too. In Cucinema, chefs and actors defy the usual discipline and order of the professional kitchen. Refined cooking techniques are swept from the table and make way for a bizarre but amusing way of preparing food. The Belgian theatre companies Laika and Circo Ripopolo will offer you a glimpse into their chaotic kitchen. 

The kitchen here is like a three-ring circus.In order to create Cucinema, Laika's director and concept creator Peter De Bie threw in his lot with Ief Gilis, the artistic leader of Circo Ripopolo – an effervescent circus theatre company. Both men harbour a passion for slapstick films and for delicious food. You may have already guessed their intentions: a wordless theatre production that flirts with slapstick, shows off cooking techniques and treats the audience to a portion of theatrical and culinary delight. Mission accomplished! 

The show’s strength lies in the surprising way each scene unfolds and follows one another. We don’t want to divulge much more than that. In addition to Michiel Soete and the ever-so-surprising Katrien Perlet, the clumsy tricks of Stef Geers and Alain Rinckhout are equally spectacular. But Perlet, who can often be seen in the performances of site-specific theatre company Studio ORKA, obviously feels perfectly at home in this wordless performance. She plays her game with divine facial expressions which she uses to stimulate the pianist. And we mean stimulate in the most romantic sense of the word... 

Els van Steenberghe, theatre critic for Knack wrote the following: ”Cucinemareinforces love: love for the uncomplicated stage, funny circus tricks, inner beauty and the beauty of coincidental encounters”.
Gazet van Antwerpen: "Slapstick in a Michelin-starred restaurant"
Culinair Atelier ID: “I seldom enjoy theatre performances this much!”

• > Wed 24 August
• > Fri 26 August
• > Sat 27 August
• > Sun 28 August
• > Mon 29 August
• > Tue 30 August
• > Wed 31 August
• > Thu 1 September
• > Fri 2 september
• > Sat 3 September
• > Sun 4 September