''Five Easy Pieces'' (2016) is a theatre production that the Swiss theatre and film director

Milo Rau Milo Rau (born 1977) is a Swiss theatre director, journalist, playwright, essayist, and lecturer. In 2007 he founded a theatre and film production company, the International Institute of Political Murder (IIPM), and from 2018 until 2023 was the ...

made with children for the

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

arts centre An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues fo ...

CAMPO and that is based on the

Dutroux Marc Paul Alain Dutroux (; born 6 November 1956) is a Belgian convicted serial killer, serial rapist, and child molester. Initially convicted for the abduction and rape of five young girls in 1989, Dutroux was released on parole after just thr ...

affair.

The Dutroux affair as a starting point

As with other theatre productions by Milo Rau, testimonies and reconstructions of true facts form the basis of ''Five Easy Pieces''.Page about ''Five Easy Pieces'' (Milo Rau, 2016)
on the website of Kunstenfestivaldesarts In this case they relate to the life and the crimes of Marc Dutroux, who kidnapped, raped and murdered with the help of some accomplices a series of children in the 90s in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Milo Rau says that he is always looking for the traumatic, tragic moments in the lives of both individuals and a country, because we are most affected and changed in those moments.Lyn Gardner
'It's supposed to be funny': young actors perform play about child killer Marc Dutroux
in: The Guardian, 22 March 2017 However, Milo Rau's intention was not to create an accurate representation of the Dutroux affair with ''Five Easy Pieces'', but a modern

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

with Dutroux as the starting point. His intention was to make "a children's theatre performance that was risky, unprecedented and virtually impossible."Stefan Bläske
Milo Rau about the background of Five Easy Pieces
on the website of CAMPO, 6 May 2016 With the life and the crimes of Marc Dutroux as a starting point he searches in ''Five Easy Pieces'' for the limits of "what children know, feel and do", and explores what is acceptable and unacceptable for the spectators.

Underlying themes

The essence of ''Five Easy Pieces'' is not the horror of the Dutroux affair, but the big themes that lie behind this specific case. According to Milo Rau, these are "the decline of a country, the national paranoia, the mourning, and the anger that followed the crimes." It is not the killer and his psyche that interest him, but the history of Belgium and the collapse of Western colonial and industrial powers. In the Dutroux affair a number of important historical events concerning Belgium converge: from the loss of the Congo colony to the closure of the coal mines. In the theatre production Marc Dutroux functions as a kind of collective symbol for Belgium, as a black hole.Guy Duplat
La vie de Marc Dutroux jouée par des enfants
in: LaLibreBelgique, 3 May 2016 With ''Five Easy Pieces'' Milo Rau fictionalizes the Dutroux affair with the aim of telling something that exceeds the case.Charlotte De Somviele
Voor kinderen is Dutroux een gruwelijk sprookje - Milo Rau gooit zich op de Belgische geschiedenis
in: De Standaard, 30 April 2016, p. 18 According to his own word, Marc Dutroux is a pretext for him to talk "about a government that does not function and about to what extent people have been disconnected from the political system."Jasmijn Post en Maria Groot
Dutroux voor beginners - Milo Rau heeft geen schrik van controverse
in: Bruzz, 4 May 2016, N° 1521, p. 14-15 The Dutroux affair serves as an

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

about how we experience the world and think about it, and about how we deal with the emotional shock and pain caused by an extremely upsetting experience.

Metatheatre (Theatre about theatre)

Milo Rau's ''Five Easy Pieces'' is also a reflection on

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

.Christian Jade
"Five easy pieces". Comment faire jouer des enfants ? Milo Rau et Peter Seynaeve s'expliquent
in the culture section of the website of RTBF, 15 October 2016 The title ''Five Easy Pieces'' refers to a series of exercises that

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

composed in 1917 in order to teach children how to play the piano, and that were also called ''

Five Easy Pieces ''Five Easy Pieces'' is a 1970 American road drama film directed by Bob Rafelson, written by Rafelson and Carole Eastman (as Adrien Joyce), and starring Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Susan Anspach, Lois Smith, and Ralph Waite. The film tell ...

''. The theatre production of Milo Rau is made up of five

monologue In theatre, a monologue (also known as monolog in North American English) (in , from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts ...

s, each offering a different perspective on how children learn to act and how they learn to grow up. Milo Rau sees his performances as ''Lehrstücke'', in the

Brechtian Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

tradition: his actors learn to play.Herien Wensink
Over wreedheid leren door die na te spelen
in: NRC, 30 May 2016 Every scene of Milo Rau's ''Five Easy Pieces'' starts with the projection of a short film in which adults start the scene. The children then take up live, act the scene simultaneously on the theatre stage, and continue playing while the only adult actor - in the role of director - films and encourages them. In this way the children play the role of the old and sick father of Dutroux, a police agent who discovers the murdered children, one of his victims and the parents of one of his other victims. What Milo Rau was interested in was to show the audience that a director, just like Marc Dutroux, is always a manipulator to a certain extent and that there exists a power game between him and his actors (especially if they are children).

Artistic team

Milo Rau is responsible for the concept, text and direction of ''Five Easy Pieces''. The actors on stage are Rachel Dedain, Aimone De Zordo, Fons Dumont, Arno John Keys, Maurice Leerman, Pepijn Loobuyck, Willem Loobuyck, Blanche Ghyssaert, Polly Persyn, Lucia Redondo, Peter Seynaeve, Pepijn Siddiki, Elle Liza Tayou, Winne Vanacker, Hendrik Van Doorn and Eva Luna Van Hijfte. However, they form two different casts of seven children and one adult. Peter Seynaeve also takes on the role of directing assistant and performance coach. The actors in the film material are Sara De Bosschere, Pieter-Jan De Wyngaert,

Johan Leysen Johan Leysen (19 February 1950 – 30 March 2023) was a Belgian actor. He appeared in more than 130 films and television shows from 1977. He starred in the film '' De grens'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1984 Canne ...

, Peter Seynaeve, Jan Steen, Ans Van den Eede, Hendrik Van Doorn and Annabelle Van Nieuwenhuyse. Stefan Bläske is the dramatic advisor.Page about Five Easy Pieces (Milo Rau, 2016)
on the website of CAMPO ''Five Easy Pieces'' (Milo Rau, 2016) is a production of the Ghent arts centre CAMPO and the International Institute of Political Murder (IIPM), the theatre and film production company of Milo Rau. Co-producers are the

Kunstenfestivaldesarts The Kunstenfestivaldesarts (KFDA) is an annual international multi-genre arts festival that takes place in several locations in Brussels, Belgium. The festival, founded in 1994 by Frie Leysen, is a celebration of the arts by both the Flemish an ...

(Brussels),

Münchner Kammerspiele The Munich Kammerspiele (German: Münchner Kammerspiele) is a state-funded German-language theater company based at the ''Schauspielhaus'' on Maximilianstrasse in the Bavarian capital. The company currently has three venues: the main stage of ...

, La Bâtie - Festival de Genève, Kaserne Basel, Gessnerallee Zürich, Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), SICK! Festival (Manchester), Sophiensaele Berlin and Le phénix scene national Valenciennes pôle européen de création.

Performances

''Five Easy Pieces'' premiered on 14 May 2016 at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels. An extensive tour in Belgium and abroad followed afterwards, from 2016 until 2018. In Belgium, the production was performed in Aalst,

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

, Ghent,

Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

Roeselare Roeselare (; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The name of the city is derived from two ...

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

Waregem Waregem (; ), spelled Waereghem before, is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality lies in the valley of the river Lys, between Kortrijk and Ghent. It is part of the administrative district of ...

and

Zaventem Zaventem () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is located in the Dijleland area, one of the three large recreational areas which together form the '' Groene Gordel'' ("Green Belt") around th ...

. In the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

performances took place in

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's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

and

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

. In addition, the production travelled around the world with an extensive series of performances in

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, the

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and

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Reception in press

''Five Easy Pieces'' received wide critical acclaim in the press. Based on a poll among about fifty critics, the German specialist journal Theater Heute proclaimed ''Five easy pieces'' as best production of the year. Theatre critic Tuur Devens wrote in the Dutch theatre magazine Theaterkrant: "But let Dutroux play by children?! Children who play casual and innocent, you can not let them bring such horror? Milo Rau does it, and in his way in a splendid way: the subject matter of ''Five Easy Pieces'' is the Dutroux affair, but at the same time it is about playing, about manipulation and abuse of power in the world, outside and in theatre." In the Dutch newspaper NRC culture editor Herien Wensink wrote: "You could blame director Milo Rau - public impact is guaranteed - but the execution is subdued and integer, the result powerful and disruptive." Journalist Magali Degrande wrote in the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad: "''Five Easy Pieces'' makes you shiver and smile, a nacre pickaxe that reveals hidden basements and rolls flat over them. Irresponsibly good theater." Yet there were also some critical reactions, especially from Jean Lambrecks, the father of one of the victims of Dutroux. He was disappointed because Milo Rau's production is insufficiently a factual representation of the Dutroux affair.

Festival selections

In 2017 ''Five Easy Pieces'' was selected for the Theater Festival in both the Netherlands and

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

. Together with ''Risjaar Drei'' (Olympique Dramatique and Toneelhuis, 2017), it was the only production that was selected for both festivals, which present the most interesting performances of the past season. In its report the jury of the Flanders Theatre Festival wrote: "Its wry humour and its political-social commitment make 'Five Easy Pieces' one of the most captivating theatre experiences of the past season, which the jury voted for as one block". In 2017 the production was also selected for the German Theatertreffen festival, which shows the ten most notable productions of the past season. Furthermore, the play was presented at the Schauspiel Köln as part of the Impulse Festival in 2017 (30 June and 1 July). On both dates German and English subtitles were provided and a discussion with Milo Rau and the cast that was open to questions from the audience followed after a short break on the prior date. There it was also addressed that one scene that features a young, fully naked girl was not allowed to be performed as part of the festival. After some back and forth one had agreed to exchange the live scene with a video recording of it. In advance German newspapers already announced this play as one of the festival highlights whilst dropping Milo Rau's name.

Awards

In October 2016 Milo Rau received the Special Prize of the Jury 2016 for ''Five Easy Pieces'' from the Belgian ''Prix de la Critique Théâtre et Danse''. The jury report stated: "This is not a performance, but a flagellation. ..This is all the brave, reckless genius of Milo Rau, who never curbs the candour of the young actors but slips in powerful metaphors." Afterwards, a series of prizes followed outside of Belgium. At the Theatertreffen festival in Berlin in May 2017, Milo Rau was awarded the 3sat prize for the production. The jury praised the director for his trendsetting and artistic-innovative work. The jury report stated: "Rau does not make the monstrous bearable, but he makes it narrative, and asks fundamental questions about violence between minors and adults. In this way, 'Five Easy Pieces' celebrates what the Dutrouxs of this world want to destroy: childlike wisdom, childlike will and childlike pride." The German-speaking theatre magazine Theater Heute awarded the production with both the best production prize in 2017 and the prize for the best dramaturgy in 2017.More awards for Five Easy Pieces!
on the website of CAMPO, 31 August 2017 At the MESS festival in Sarajevo in October 2017, ''Five Easy Pieces'' received four prizes: the Grand Prix – Golden Laurel Wreath for Best Performance, the Golden Laurel Wreath for Best Director, the Audience Award for Best Performance and the MESS Critics Award. A couple of months later, in December 2017, the production received the Premio Ubu 2017 for the best foreign show in Italy.Premio Ubu Award for Five Easy Pieces
on the website of CAMPO, 16 December 2017