70 minutes

Studio Dries Verhoeven, together with MU, presents an exclusive screening of the documentary 'The recruitment' in which  theater maker and visual artist Dries Verhoeven travels to Bulgaria in search of migrant workers who want to sing in his performance Brothers exalt thee to freedom 2021). The documentary is a prelude to his latest performance Dear beloved friend,  which can be seen in Parktheater Eindhoven on March 18th and is also about (labour) migration and the future of work and life on our continent. In his latest work, Verhoeven questions the changing relationship with Africa. Nigerian performers question the European 'retreat movement'.

In the documentary 'The recruitment' Dries travels to Bulgaria in search of migrant workers who want to sing in his performance. The viewer is right on top of all the challenges, the enthusiasm and the vulnerability of the creative process. The film reveals the performers' vision on the politics of labour. A film by Dries Verhoeven & Wouter van Elderen on the making of the performance Brothers exalt thee to freedom, which was shown in 2021 in theaters inside and outside Brabant.

About Brothers exalt thee to freedom
In a robotised distribution center, ten Bulgarian performers, who have experience as labour migrants, sing a historic labour song for eight hours long. Their work breaks are derived from those at e-commerce company Amazon. By juxtaposing robotics and singing, the performance questions the value of the working body, the labour movement and the legacy of socialism in times of automatisation. Audience members could attend the performance for as long as they wished.

About Dries Verhoeven
Dries Verhoeven (1976 Oosterhout, the Netherlands) is a theatre maker and visual artist. Dries Verhoeven creates installations, performances and happenings in museums, on location and in the public spaces of cities. On the boundary between performance and installation art, he critically evaluates the relationships between the spectators, performers, everyday reality and art. The spectator is directly involved in the work or given the opportunity to steer his or her own experiences. Verhoeven's installations and performances can be seen at festivals, in public spaces and in museums and theaters. His haunted house Phobiarama, about the politics of fear, was shown in 2017 at the Holland Festival, Theaterfestival Boulevard and the LIFT Festival in London, among others. His installation Happiness - a pharmacy where a humanoid talked about drugs and other synthetic forms of happiness - was shown first in 2019 at MU and has been touring Europe ever since. 

www.driesverhoeven.com

'The Recruitment' will screen on the 9th of March @mu together with a dedicated introduction by studio Dries Verhoeven about his latest project 'Dear beloved friend'.

When Thursday March 9th
Start 20.00h. Doors open at 19:30h.
Location  MU Strijp-S, Torenallee 40-06 Eindhoven
Cost €3,00 student admission and €4,00 regular admission
Order your tickets via eventbrite 

**Tickets purchased for ' Dear Beloved Friend' in the Parktheater allow for free admission to this event.