Dinner with Dad

For everyone with a father

In Dinner with Dad Lucas De man examines fatherhood nowadays – who are the fathers, grandfathers and future fathers of this day? How do children relate to their fathers? Dinner with Dad consists of a performance and a portrait series.

The performance Dinner with Dad is a performance in the present, about fatherhood in the past and today, in which stories, testimonies, music and wine are intertwined. Starting point for De Man were the three generations he relates to: his grandfather, his father and himself. When Lucas saw how his own father cared for his grandfather before his death, his grown-up dad’s childish side touched him. On the other hand he detects a constant fear of becoming a father in his own generation. He is also fascinated by the way his peers communicate with their fathers (babyboomers). It is a seeminlgy trouble-free relationship, but do they ever have real and intimate conversations with their fathers about emotions and such? Lastly there is the relation to The Father in the figurative sense, like politicians, God, teachers, scientists. We live in a world in which everything is possible, and most of all, in which you decide everything for yourself, so ultimately you even get to choose your own frameworks and Fathers. But doesn’t this freedom lead to anxiety, stress and insecurity?

The performance is about Wouter (55), a wine trader who also gives cooking demonstrations together with his son Viktor (26), in which they prepare “Daddy’s food”. Daddy’s food is food made by fathers. Wouter tells the audience about his own strict father, who is now deceased, his children Viktor and Reina, about the seventies, about Zappa, Neil Young and Pink Floyd, about wine and women, about being divorced and about being a father in general. Viktor is more quiet than his excited father, he helps with the cooking. In his head and body he searches for his own place in this life, and his own point of view.

After the performance the actors serve you their dinner, a great oppurtunity to discuss the performance together. Because everyone has their own dad, and their own story.

Dinner with Dad was co-produced by Het Lab Utrecht and Frascati Producties, and is a continuation of Project HI.

Credits:
Written and directed by: Lucas De Man
Performers: Justus van Dillen, Gert Den Boer, Simon Jager, Pim, Jonas and others
Technician: Bob Ages
Dramaturge (internship): Petra Eikelenboom
Image/flyer: Joost de Haas
Partners: Het Lab Utrecht, Frascati Producties, Het Zuidelijk Toneel, Wijnhandel De Logie

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