Finding Willard_photo_Clara Hermans
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Peter Anthonissen about Tom Struyf | Artsenkrant

Struyf makes the audience part of his fascination in an inviting and ingenious way. Struyf's enthusiasm is deliberately misleading. Willard's past and present are more complex than he initially suggests.

Ron Rijghard about Finding Willard | NRC Handelsblad

The many special people that Tom Struyf introduces, with their pain and happiness, are immensely intriguing. A worthy portrait of sincere attempts at humane care. It shows how good will is lost in a wrong system.

Theatermaker Tom Struyf maakt voorstelling over Amerikaans dorp: ‘Het voelde alsof ik in een rare film was beland’ | DeMorgen.

Toen theatermaker Tom Struyf per toeval in het Amerikaanse dorpje Willard belandde, raakte hij zo gefascineerd door het gehucht en zijn oude psychiatrisch ziekenhuis, dat hij er prompt een voorstelling over maakte. In Finding Willard neemt hij zijn publiek mee terug... MORE

Palco Teatro LAC Lugano
10.10
20:30

Tom Struyf

Finding Willard

BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS
Duration: 1h45'
DOCUMENTARY THEATRE
In Dutch and English with Italian surtitles

Is there room in our society for people who deviate from the norm? What does it mean to take care of each other in changing times?

Winter 2018. On a trip to the US Tom arrives, by luck or coincidence, in a small town near the Canadian border. Willard is found on the banks of an outstretched lake, surrounded by the ruins of a former psychiatric hospital. An accidental encounter with an extraordinary landscape and a tiny church community turns into a compelling trip, in which Tom finds his personal life entangled with the town and the people of Willard. Finding Willard is a cinematic theater piece. A travel story about construction and decay, a personal quest about care and community.

concept & performance Tom Struyf
co-creation Fien Leysen, Willem De Maeseneer
interviews Fien Leysen, Tom Struyf
camera & editing Geert De Vleesschauwer, Fien Leysen
music Bert Hornikx
scenography Ina Peeters, Jolan Moonen
technical coordination Geert De Vleesschauwer
technics Klaartje Vermeulen, Walter Verhaeren
production Tatiana Aarons vzw
co-produzction Het Zuidelijk Toneel, NTGent, C-TAKT, NEXT Festival, Productiehuis TR, detheatermaker, kc De Singel, cc de Werft Geel and cc De Grote Post Oostende
in collaboration with Schouwburg corso and Flemish Arts Centre de Brakke Grond
with the support of Flemish Government, City of Rotterdam, Stuifzand and deAuteurs

<photos Clara Hermans, Fien Leysen & Wies Hermans