PROJECT

Salut Copain (2015)

I think I’m asking questions, but the questions are asking me.

A performance full of astonishment about the self and the other.
About looking for connections between things.
About being together or ‘not-being’ together.
A performance of ideas.
Cheerful, wild, questioning, fearful, short and long ideas.

In Salut Copain Dounia Mahammed uses language as a medium in which to philosophise, dream, draw, hesitate and question on stage. Inspired by the work of Daniil Charms and Paul Auster, among others, she creates a virtuoso solo on identity and difference. Dounia’s work is intended to tell us something about mankind and being human, and swings from wonder to despair.

Dounia Mahammed graduated with Salut Copain at drama, KASK in Ghent. In 2015 she won the Horlait-Dapsens Prize, and in the summer of 2016 she won the SABAM Youth Theatre Writing Prize at Theater Aan Zee in Ostend. In 2017 the solo got selected for Circuit X, which offers the opportunity to show the work of young theatre makers in cultural centres in Flanders and the Netherlands

Salut Copain was first performed for an audience at Gouvernement (Ghent) in the spring of 2015 (KASK Graduation Festival). In 2016 and 2017, it toured to Bâtard Festival, wpZimmer, Theater aan Zee (where Dounia received the SABAM Young Theatre Writing Prize), DE Studio, C-Mine, Recyclart, Vooruit, CC De Factorij and GC De Kriekelaar. In February 2017, Salut Copain was selected by Circuit X, which will organize a tour in cultural centres in Belgium and the Netherlands in the spring of 2018.

Extract from the KASK jury report: ‘Dounia is a lovely, disarming and sensitive actress. It is exceptional for anyone to be able to perform a solo piece that fills the whole space. A very special aspect of the performance is the way Dounia carries on a dialogue with herself, not only in terms of acting and dramaturgy, but also with herself as an actress. … She has found the perfect tone in which to capture Charms’ subversive spirit and incorporates this into very precise, physical acting. … The script itself also makes an impression, being both moving and full of humour.’

Past Dates

February 2019

November 2018

11/11
De Centrale (Gent)

June 2018

30/06
Copacobana (Gent)

May 2018

06/05
Het Gasthuis (Aarschot)

April 2018

17/04
cc BE (Berchem)
19/04
cc de Meent (Alsemberg)
27/04
cc Brasschaat (Brasschaat)
28/04
cc De Steiger (Menen)

March 2018

01/03
cc Ter Dilft (Bornem)
02/03
C-Mine Cultuurcentrum (Genk)
06/03
BOZAR (Brussel)
08/03
cc De Herbakker (Eeklo)
09/03
252 cc (Ekeren)
14/03
Schouwburg (Kortrijk)
24/03
cc De Werf (Aalst)
29/03
cc Strombeek (Grimbergen)

February 2018

03/02
cc Gildhof (Tielt)
07/02
cc Zwaneberg (Heist-op-den-Berg)
19/02
Stadsschouwburg (Utrecht)
22/02
gc Felix Sohie (Hoeilaart)
23/02
cc Nova (Wetteren)

November 2017

11/11
Veem House of Performance (Amsterdam)

September 2017

August 2017

05/08
Theaterfestival Boulevard ('s-Hertogenbosch)
06/08
Theaterfestival Boulevard ('s-Hertogenbosch)

April 2017

23/04
cc De Factorij (Zaventem)
25/04
gc De Kriekelaar (Schaarbeek)

March 2017

November 2016

18/11
Toneelkring Sint-Rembert (Torhout)

October 2016

September 2016

August 2016

02/08
Theater Aan Zee (Oostende)
03/08
Theater Aan Zee (Oostende)
04/08
Theater Aan Zee (Oostende)
05/08
Theater Aan Zee (Oostende)

July 2016

29/07
Theater Aan Zee (Oostende)
30/07
Theater Aan Zee (Oostende)
31/07
Theater Aan Zee (Oostende)

January 2016

17/01
wpZimmer/Open House (Antwerpen)

December 2015

March 2020

August 2021

29/08
Gemeenschapscentrum Everna (Evere)

Credits

Text, Performance, Direction: Dounia MahammedInspired by: Texts by Daniil Charms, Paul Auster, Jozef van de Berg and othersCoaching: Tine Van AerschotProduction: wpZimmer (Antwerp)Thanks to: KASK, Gouvernement, Griet Boddez, Simon D'Huyvetter, Seppe Decubber, Anjana Dierckx, Brecht Vermeersch, Mira Bryssinck, Silke Huysmans, Wannes Gyselinck, Simon Allemeersch

Info

Theatre
Duration: 50 min.
Language: Dutch (subtitles in English or French)
Technical Rider

Press

Interview: De Morgen
Review: Etcetera
Review: Theaterkrant
Interview: De Morgen Magazine
Interview: RINGtv
Announcement: Young Theatre Writing Prize 2016