Bambie Performs Bambi

Ode to Loneliness

It had to happen: a performance about the little deer that inspired the name of Mimetheatergroep Bambie. Who doesn't know Bambi - the most famous children's film of all time? In Walt Disney's version, Bambi grows up in an idyllic forest full of friendly talking animals, finding his destiny in love and fatherhood. But that's a considerable romanticization of the original. In the 1923 book by Austrian writer Felix Salten, nature is cruel and Bambi remains alone - because survival means learning to rely on yourself.

In their own visual theatrical language - wildly absurdist and emotionally charged - Mimetheatergroep Bambie sets Disney's romanticism against Salten's realism. Iconic scenes receive a new interpretation: Bambi's birth, the slapstick ice-skating scene, the death of his mother, the hormonal discovery of love. The forest is a dwelling where natural elements intrude, inhabited by human figures with animal instincts.

Three individuals seek in Bambie Performs Bambi a personal answer to the question of what our 'natural' destiny is, and what life lessons are needed to become an adult in this time.

Credits
Performers/creators: QiQi van Boheemen, Odin van Diepen and Jochem Stavenuiter
Direction: Jochem Stavenuiter and Marijn van der Jagt
Compositions and sound design: Amber Docters van Leeuwen
Lighting design: Manuel Boutreur