A group of friends gather in a remote cottage for their annual reunion. From the start, discord bubbles under the surface: Yvonne turns out not to have been invited at all because something happened between her and Xia last year, the marriage between Xia and Antoon seems to be collapsing and Cor seems to take a devilish pleasure in it. to stir up all the insecurities and resentment. And that’s all before Bernd notices that a wolf is prowling around the house.
Jibbe Willems wrote the text of I’d rather be called Angel for two actors, who keep changing roles between the five characters. The author visibly takes pleasure in exaggerating the archetypes: the soft, sensitive Antoon settles into his marriage with the tough businesswoman Xia, who has fallen into a rut of slight contempt for her husband, macho man Bernd continuously sprinkles with wisdom he learned ‘in the army’, and the caring Yvonne immediately takes care of the snacks to be prepared.
Also read the interview with Lotte Dunselman: ‘We still have a long way to go in the Netherlands in terms of women’s emancipation’
Mysterious elements
You can draw out the dynamic that arises between them in advance, but Willems keeps the attention by adding a few mysterious elements: the threat of the wolf, but also the absence of the sixth guest, the free-spirited Angel, who the others almost as a savior.
In the grotesque choice of play by Lotte Dunselman and Wouter van Oord, surrealism is emphasized, inviting you to see the piece as a metaphor for the social debate on identity. The players change characters faster and faster – where they first take the time to change, in later scenes a quickly changed cap must suffice. This not only produces much hilarity and a deep respect for the breathtaking virtuosity of the game, but also the image of a generation in their forties who can no longer keep up with the rapidly changing ideas about identity. They want to free themselves from entrenched role patterns, but are also afraid to let them go.
At the same time, the makers are watching out for it I’d rather be called Angel reduced to a mere piece of ideas. As the evening progresses, the characters become more and more vulnerable, and the play turns into a moving relationship drama. Ultimately, the performance makes it so tangible how precisely the people we care about most can keep us imprisoned in a role.
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