The Theater aan Zee (TAZ) festival in Oostende officially kicks off today, featuring a concert by the 101-year-old actress Alice Toen.
During the ten-day festival, 600 performances will take place at 38 locations across the coastal town. The organisers report strong ticket sales, with over 80% already sold, but approximately 10,000 tickets are still available for those looking to attend.
The official opening is scheduled for Wednesday evening at the Casino Foyer of Kursaal Oostende, where Alice Toen’s concert will be a highlight. Accompanied by musicians including Bjorn Eriksson, she will perform songs from her new CD, featuring lyrics by Toon Hermans, Federico Garcia Lorca, and Dylan Thomas. This marks one of the final two concerts of her career.
Additionally, the soundtrack for TAZ will debut during the opening night, composed and sung by Farnoosh. Jean Paul Van Bendegem will deliver a brief lecture on ‘time’, the central theme of this year’s edition.
Artistic director Cindy Godefroi and co-programmer Dominique Collet have curated an extensive programme around this theme, including several premieres. Notably, ‘Queen of the Flies’ by Camping Sunset, a creative adaptation of William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies,’ will be presented.
Each day, a collective dance session will be held, choreographed by Jotka Bauwens to music by Farnoosh Khodadadeh, who will be introduced on the opening night. The public is invited to join at Kursaal to learn the dance steps. Last year, Bauwens performed with her mother to ‘Les Yeux de ma mère’ by Arno.
