Three bodies wallowing in clay, surrendering themselves to the unwieldy material and trying to make it do what they want. Welcome to the new production by Schweigman&. ‘Follow and create: I love this combination.’
‘We are all people on this Earth; that’s what connects us. The land, the soil belongs to everyone, and we must learn to listen to what is going on underneath us. Clay is the perfect material to depict this.’
In her latest show, Boukje Schweigman from the theatre company Schweigman& takes the human body back to basics. It is an invitation to slow down and reflect upon our place on Earth. Three performers move through a landscape of clay, surrendering themselves to its weight and turning it into a game. ‘It’s a compelling material; shapeless, unwieldy and slow, but the way it envelops you makes you feel safe,’ Boukje explains. ‘And you can quite literally mould clay into anything you want, you can shape it. At first, the actors’ movements are determined by the heavy weight of the clay, but they gradually start to discover its potency. Follow and create: I love this combination.’
Ten tons
When developing Klei, Boukje worked with artist Zoro Feigl, who used the material to design a landscape. He has shaped ten tons of clay in a round tent on the site of the Steck garden centre, where the show is being performed for just over six weeks. Boukje: ‘Apart from ten tons of clay, the decors also consists of 500 litres of water and 1,500 kilos of steel. You’ll understand why a theatre tour is out of the question. Let the world come to Utrecht!’
Boukje also works closely with sound artist Gemma Luz Bosch, who uses ceramic flutes, singing bowls, a xylophone and other instruments to create a sound world of clay. The instruments are played by the percussion group HIIIT. ‘The idea is that we enter the tent with the audience, leave all the background noise behind and listen to what Earth is telling us.’
Nice and dirty
Interaction is the message that Schweigman& is trying to convey with Klei. ‘Mankind manipulating their surroundings, and vice versa. We help each other, we hinder each other. Klei illustrates this beautifully: you can fight it, but you can also embrace it. Was there ever a child that didn’t enjoy getting nice and dirty playing in the mud? To me, it’s a material that appeals to the imagination.’
But what happens to all that clay afterwards? In line with the show’s message, it gets recycled, says Boukje. ‘It’s Limburg clay that was dug out of an old riverbed. When we’re finished, it will be turned into roof tiles.’
9 May to 27 June 2026, Steck Utrecht, schweigman.org/en
Klei is part of the SPRING Performing Arts Festival. Click here for our SPRING-tips >
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Pam van der Veen
