Art Happens

Shelly Shonk Fiffit (new)

tour datesinfo
© Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe

With Shelly Shonk Fiffit, Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe taps into a theme that is as unfathomable as the title: the cosmic. As always, Meirhaeghe does not begin with a clear-cut concept, but instead takes certain fascinations and a dynamic group of performers as his starting point. The show is driven by a double artistic motor: the hypnotic electronic music of Italian composer Caterina Barbieri and the James Webb Space Telescope.

World premiere
18 January 2024
Toneelhuis Antwerp

The infinity of the universe swallows us up. Science searches, but our imagination is absolute. The largest and most sophisticated space telescope allows us to look far and deep into the universe, but also in the past. What fascinates Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe even more than the discovery of this telescope, is the capacity of human beings to rise above themselves and the universe in their thoughts. Their capacity for invention. In this show, Meirhaeghe links the high tech of a telescope to the primitiveness of handcraft and manual techniques.

Benjamin’s travel companion on this trip beyond the boundaries of the body and time is the Italian composer Caterina Barbieri. Barbieri makes electronic music that is potentially ‘transformative and mind-expanding’. To the sounds of the hypnotic ‘Fantas’ (from the magisterial 2019 album Ecstatic Computation), the performers, singers and dancers give themselves over to the inexplicable and indescribable.

Shelly Shonk Fiffit promises to be an intense and ecstatic visual and musical trip through our inner world and the remote corners of the cosmos. Fiffit!

Concept and direction: Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe

Performers: Malique Fye, Bully Fae Collins, Alphonse Eklou, Hanako Hayakawa, Fumiyo Ikeda, Eurudike de Beul, Nathan Felix-Rivot, Faust de Winne

Music: Caterina Barbieri

Scenography and light design: Bart van Merode, Zaza Dupont

Dramaturgy: Louise van den Eede

Text: Jorik Amit Galama

Vocal coach: Wouter Deltour

Production: Toneelhuis

Coproduction: Tandem Scène nationale

Distribution: ART HAPPENS, Toneelhuis

DatePerformanceCity CountryOrganisation/Venue
18.01.2024Shelly Shonk Fiffit  (premiere)Antwerp (be)Toneelhuis
20.01.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitAntwerp (be)Toneelhuis
21.01.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitAntwerp (be)Toneelhuis
23.01.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitAntwerp (be)Toneelhuis
24.01.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitAntwerp (be)Toneelhuis
25.01.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitAntwerp (be)Toneelhuis
30.01.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitGroningen (nl)SPOT / Stadsschouwburg
07.02.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitRotterdam (nl)Theater Rotterdam
09.02.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitGhent (be)NTGent
10.02.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitGhent (be)NTGent
21.03.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitThe Hague (nl)Het Nationale Theater
26.03.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitDouai (fr)TANDEM scène national Arras-Douai
27.03.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitDouai (fr)TANDEM scène national Arras-Douai
30.03.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitBrussels (be)KVS
03.04.2024Shelly Shonk FiffitAmsterdam (nl)Internationaal Theater Amsterdam