Arts Centre Vooruit, Ghent, Belgium

NTGent and Toneelgroup Amsterdam join forces to bring you La Grande Bouffe, an ode to consumer society, based on the film of the same name by Marco Ferreri. Four highly educated, successful friends have decided to organize a non-stop food fest, until they have had too much and eventually die. They want to go out at the height of excess, in the orgasmic ecstasy of a long-winded food and sex orgy. Without any further explanation, without discussion, without a philosophical underlying idea. Upon its 1973 release, the film was nothing short of a bombshell. It was the herald of a new generation without ideals that opted for neoliberal, unrestrained capitalism. But that capitalist bubble burst with a loud bang in 2008. So what does La Grande Bouffe signify now?