The Sheep Song is an unsettling masterpiece, the kind of challenging art we expect from the Adelaide Festival…it goes beyond expectations. It’s utterly ambitious and provoking theatre.―Glam Adelaide                                                           

The strongest part of the show is when stillness sets in and the symbolism of solace and rebirth prevails in a splendidly designed scenography. Every now and then you think: this could have been by Romeo Castellucci. ―De Tijd

A surreal journey of humanity, wrapped in a whimsical and captivating contemporary fable.

Invited to the Avignon Festival, Holland Festival, and Adelaide Festival, the Belgian theater company FC Bergman’s work The Sheep Song cleverly combines comedy, tragedy, and surrealism. This wordless animal fable tells the story of a sheep named Avis, who believes it possesses more depth than its peers and deserves a more glorious life. Dissatisfied with its current situation, Avis decides to embark on a journey to become human.

“Our performances are wild beasts that need to be tamed!” Founded in 2008 in Belgium by a group of young artists, FC Bergman has always aspired to create works that touch the soul. In 2013, they presented Le Roman de Renart, an anthropomorphic animal story that used animals to represent figures from medieval society. In contrast, The Sheep Song takes a human perspective to imagine a sheep that wants to become human. In the Bible, sheep often symbolize the relationship between God and humans. The creators of The Sheep Song extend this meaning, using a whimsical sheep to reveal the truth about human nature. Will this “lost sheep” find its way back to the meadow?

FC Bergman

FC Bergman was founded in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2008 by a group of six young artists born between 1982 and 1987, who met while studying in Antwerp (now with 4 members). The group spans various fields including theater, film, and visual arts. Unlike the previous generation, their works emphasize collective creation, akin to a football club as suggested by the “FC” in their name, where each performance is a team effort. In 2013, FC Bergman became the resident company at the Toneelhuis Theatre. In 2022, they, along with four other artists, were appointed co-artistic directors of Toneelhuis. In 2023, they were awarded the Silver Lion at the Venice Theatre Biennale for their entire body of work.

By FC Bergman: Stef Aerts, Joé Agemans, Thomas Verstraeten, Marie Vinck

with Stef Aerts, Joé Agemans, Dries De Win, Jonas Vermeulen, Thomas Verstraeten, Marie Vinck

Light design/ Ken Hioco

Sound design/ Senjan Janssen

Costume design/ Joëlle Meerbergen

Music design and live performance/ Frederik Leroux-Roels

Production/ Toneelhuis

Coproduction/ Holland Festival, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Piccolo Teatro di Milano - Teatro d'Europa

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