| Duration | 60 min |
Trigger warning: this psychological documentary theatre performance is about eating disorders
Silent struggle
Dis Order is a gripping psychological drama about eating disorders, with the power to heal by making the unspeakable finally visible. Theatre maker Cat Smits draws on her own diaries as well as the scientific research of Marlies Rekkers, her psychologist fifteen years ago.
Through a mix of puppetry, dance, and film footage by Sunny Bergman, her performance with handmade foam sculptures takes us into the inner struggle that everyone experiences to some degree: the battle between light and darkness.
It is not often that an actor is endowed with such exceptional magnetic power. I have seen Smits on stage many times, in various performances. However, it was only in Dis Order that I came under her direct spell. It catches the eye, exudes energy, charms with it’s stage action, voice timbre, smile and delights with puppet animation. - puppetry pioneer Marek Waszkiel
Cat Smits studied musicology and earned a Bachelor of Arts at the Amsterdam Theatre School. She specialised in puppetry at the l’ École internationale de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mezières. As part of the Cat Smits Company, she creates physical, visual, and multi-format theatre-film productions.
She also makes foam sculptures, which she uses in her own work and in productions by other companies, from Canada to Russia and from the UK to Iceland. Her sculptures have been featured in productions by Duda Paiva Company, Cezanne Tegelberg & Co, De Grote Haay, and De Witte Pomp.
Direction, performance, puppets : Cat Smits
Psychologist, scientific dramaturg : Dr Marlies Rekkers
Documentary filmmaker : Sunny Bergman
Script : Christine Otten, with contributions by Cat Smits and Dr Marlies Rekkers
Set design : Elze van den Akker
Costumes : Evita Rigert
Video design & camera : Thomas Brand
Composer : Wim Selles
Assistant director : Lisa Kasman
Advising director : Olivier Diepenhorst
Advising choreographer : Hillary Blake Firestone
Documentary research : Inge de Frank
Technical design : Jan Sol
Lighting design : Mark Verhoef
Technicians : Jan Sol, Esther Love, Mark Verhoef
English translation : Cezanne Tegelberg
Producer : Barbara Reijs
Business management : Giulia Casarola, Onno Ephraim
PR and marketing : Jamie Zwart
Documentary speakers : Yvonne Smits, Leo Smits, Annemarie van Bellegem, Eva Hofman, Jeroen Meuter, and Marlies Rekkers
Made possible by: Maja Hertoghs, Bas Sligting, Anne Dronkers, Michelle Courtens, Boudewijn Bertsch, Emma de Koster, Jane McDonald, Noor Courtens, Danai Lytrokapi, Meike van den Akker, TG Drang, Haags Theaterhuis, Fonds Podiumkunsten, Janivo Stichting, Het Cultuurfonds, VSB fonds, and Lira.
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