We make self-driving cars and self-thinking computers. We cut and paste with our own DNA. Australia is our backyard and the planet Mars is almost a holiday destination. The world is changing at dizzying speed. Yet, why do classrooms still look the same as they did 100 years ago?

The title of this show was inspired by the cheerful, anarchist film Zéro de conduite by Jean Vigo from 1933, which depicts a group of children rebelling against the strict school system they must fit into.

With 11 young people aged 15 – 22, Ghent-based theatre maker Haider Al Timimi raises questions about our education system. Are pupils seen for who they are or who they want to become? Is there any room for teachers who like to think outside the box? Are creativity and crafts undervalued? Taking these and many other questions as their starting point, the young actors, singers and dancers talk about their views on the world and their future and offer proposals for what the educational system might offer them to achieve those goals.

Zero for Conduct is an absurdist, iconoclast whirlwind of rebellious scouts and grumpy yellow vests, a physical trip of mature minds inside young bodies and vice versa. The performers inject the classroom with the passion of a voodoo ritual. They dance their thirst for knowledge and spit out their urge to know and do better.

about the makers

Haider Al Timini (Baghdad, 1979) is an actor and theatre maker. At age 6 he moved from Iraq to Belgium. He didn’t know the language, but he knew how to dance. Hip hop and breakdance were his way into the theatre. With Bart Capelle and Brigitte Mys, Haider forms the company Kloppend Hert. They create musical theatre pieces based human stories and steeped in societal, economic and political reality. Haider came to Tweetakt several times before. In 2015 with Ich bin wie Du and Bite the hand that feeds you, in 2017 with UTOPERA and in 2019 with Studio Shehrazade.

fABULEUS from Leuven produce dance and theatre shows. Its central focus is on artistic collaboration between talented young people and experienced artists. With their productions they target wide audiences of all ages, with a special focus on children and adolescents. In 2016 fABULEUS won the Ultima voor de Podiumkunsten, the culture prize awarded by the Vlaamse Gemeenschap.