Happiness can often be found in life’s smaller moments. That is something the Belgian performer
Benjamin Verdonck reminds us of on his third visit to Kunstfest Weimar after stints in 2019 and 2023. Inspired by legendary comedians like Tommy Cooper, Buster Keaton and Ōno Kazuo, he carries us off into his magical world of small gestures, big questions and profound laughter.
A box of matches, shoelaces and a touch of melancholy. That is all Verdonck needs for his solo performance “All Before Death is Life”. A philosopher of the everyday, he reminds us that failure is a part of life and that happiness is often to be found in life’s little moments. What happens to us as human beings when we gradually lose our enthusiasm for the simple things in life? How can we keep marvelling at life and retain our sense of curiosity for the unexpected instead of seeking to control everything while life passes us by? Benjamin Verdonck, the magician with empty hands, enthrals us with his disarmingly rich world. Following its world premiere at the Wiener
Festwochen in May 2025, this entertaining evening will have its German premiere at Kunstfest
Weimar.
Created and performed by: Benjamin Verdonck
Direction: Jetse Batelaan
Costume & visual consultancy: Liesbet Swings
Light: Iwan Van Vlierberghe
Co-produced by: Wiener Festwochen / Freie Republik Wien, Benjamin Verdonck, Theater Artemis (’s-Hertogenbosch)