Kopano Maroga on The Man is Lam

De Man is Lam

The painful irony of the opening, evening performance of a program titled Women and Children First being that of a seemingly white, male-presenting, able-bodied, straight-identifying cisgender man and their alternately humorous and heartfelt musings into the impotence of masculinity (both individually and more universally) in the contemporary moment was a sobering reminder that the discourse around masculinity (and, I suppose, gender by extension) remains largely underdeveloped in popular discourse. It has to be said that I left the show about three quarters of the way through. Not because it was bad (It wasn’t. Not technically at the very least), not because it was boring (Even the most entry level gender politicking can be engaging when delivered with as much self-effacing humor and performative charisma as displayed by Lucas de Man) and not because it was problematic (a white man anywhere near any kind of podium in the current political atmosphere is bound to be in the region of some kind of problematic). It simply wasn’t for me. And that’s okay. As an “exercise in awareness” and an intervention into gender theory in public discourse I can see the utility in a piece like this for stimulating conversations within public discourse. True to form Vooruit stands by it’s epithet, “Nothing for Everyone, Something for Everybody”.

- Kopano Maroga

Accessibility

Kunstencentrum Vooruit levert voor bepaalde voorstellingen extra inspanningen voor mensen met een beperking. In onderstaand filmpje is te zien hoe enkele bezoekers met een visuele beperking worden begeleid zodat ze kunnen genieten van de voorstelling 'De Man Is Lam'.