Joeri is in love without being loved, a schoolyard-like choir teases him again and again, hysterically working themselves up into a frenzy of malice. Driven by fear, the curly-haired redhead in the colourful striped shirt leaps into the void. The empty space around him condenses to a claustrophobic confinement consisting of his own reflections. Suddenly a dark landscape opens, peppered with strange dream images. Anton Cla transforms the confused feelings of a romantically inclined adolescent into a surreal theatre space whose dynamics will leave you spellbound. Belgian composer Michiel De Naegel finds a perfect home for his fictional character Joeri Chipsvingers and his world of sound in Cla’s animation.

André Eckardt