Theatre DE MAAN and the City of Mechelen are preparing a large-scale performance to be staged on Sunday September 22nd! Writer and visual artist Maarten Inghels will direct more than 30 extras in a lifelike chess game that will take over the entire Grote Markt of Mechelen. Yes, exactly as we write it: lifelike tokens, pawns, rooks, kings and queens…
MAKE NO WAR, PLAY A GAME INSTEAD!
Maarten Inghels got the inspiration for HUMAN CHESS from the human-sized chess match played by the Russian army in 1924 in Leningrad/Sint-Petersburg. Exactly 100 years later, Belgium held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which Mechelen has been celebrating with Construct Europe. Human Chess will therefore be staged during the closing weekend on 22 September 2024.
This performance responds to these turbulent times when people are fleeing war regimes. The work’s symbolism is an outspoken critique of the status of innocent civilians as pawns on the world stage. In HUMAN CHESS, it is not about losers or winners but about the powerful, theatrical image that emerges.
Make no war, play a game instead!
Anyone who wants to can come and watch from 2pm on the Mechelen Grote Markt.
Admission is free for all!
