A visual performance about how certain events have a lifelong impact on and in your life. Drawing inspiration for Ravensbrück from documentaries, historical reference works, and interviews with trauma experts, Stefanie also draws from conversations with her grandmother and fragments from personal letters. Aline Vervoort, Stefanie Claes’s grandmother, was arrested in her home in Winksele during World War II, together with her parents. She spends a year in the German women’s concentration camp Ravensbrück. As a child, theater maker Stefanie sometimes dreams that soldiers invade her street and that she has to flee. But it is only at the age of 16 that she truly realizes the drama that has unfolded in her family.

More about the creators:

De Studio is a cultural hotspot located on Mechelseplein in the heart of Antwerp. It aims to connect a young audience (aged 0 to 30) with art, culture, and media, with a strong emphasis on urban and societal contexts, and with care for the vulnerable position of young people and artists.

“Ravensbrück is a personal, dedicated, and delicate performance that, in our opinion, should become required viewing for every young person who visits Kazerne Dossin. Once again, Claes’ work is delicate: every breath or shuffle disrupts the concentration of the small gesture.” – Charlotte De Somviele in De Standaard

“How she translates the physical play of drawing and crafting into simple, often poignant images, is impressive.” – Jasper Delva on pzazz.theater