Dear beloved friend,
They will come, they will have no choice, they will come in their tens of thousands, in their millions.
With a sense of growing unease, Dries read about a future African refugee influx and the continent’s expected birth explosion. “Where will this enormous group of people go in the predicted post-apocalyptic world?”
Dries went to do his research and flew to the Nigerian city of Lagos, which is rapidly becoming the world’s largest city in an already densely populated country. As the problems pile up, he discovered a people bursting with energy and utopian thinking. Clearly, the apocalypse is not in fashion there. It’s hard to imagine a starker contrast with European fears. Are Nigerians fantasising against their better judgement? Or are we in Europe too fixated on the past?
Dear beloved friend, is a live film performance. Straight from Nollywood, the heart of the African film industry, Kininso Koncepts’ incandescent performers enact our European nightmares. Via a live internet connection they address us in our comfortable theatre seats. Provocative, disruptive, and inescapable, like the future itself.
They will come, they will have no choice, they will come in their tens of thousands, in their millions.
With a sense of growing unease, Dries read about a future African refugee influx and the continent’s expected birth explosion. “Where will this enormous group of people go in the predicted post-apocalyptic world?”
Dries went to do his research and flew to the Nigerian city of Lagos, which is rapidly becoming the world’s largest city in an already densely populated country. As the problems pile up, he discovered a people bursting with energy and utopian thinking. Clearly, the apocalypse is not in fashion there. It’s hard to imagine a starker contrast with European fears. Are Nigerians fantasising against their better judgement? Or are we in Europe too fixated on the past?
Dear beloved friend, is a live film performance. Straight from Nollywood, the heart of the African film industry, Kininso Koncepts’ incandescent performers enact our European nightmares. Via a live internet connection they address us in our comfortable theatre seats. Provocative, disruptive, and inescapable, like the future itself.
Video
Trailer Dear beloved friend,
Press
Verhoeven is a master at finding the right format for the right subject (…) a feat of technical virtuosity (…) a road trip about people fleeing misery in search of a long-vanished paradise.
Hein Janssen in de VolkskrantRead the review here
Verhoeven deeply affects us by immersing us in unforgettable experiences. (…) young, self-assured, energetic Black Africans mock us, and how we see ourselves.
Joost Ramaer on Theaterkrant.nlRead the review here
It is one of his most politically-engaged productions, depicting a mass exodus from one continent and another continent struggling to cope with the influx. (…) apart from its political relevance, Dear Beloved Friend also urges us to detox from social media once in a while, and reset our brains.
Hein Janssen in de VolkskrantRead the review here
Throughout the performance, we hear a voice-over describing the life of an average European. Someone who consumes the news, checks his phone, and muddles along. Despite his concerns about the world, all he does is donate to charity and have recurring nightmares about a party where he doesn't recognise anyone. All of this paints a critical portrait of the decadence, hypocrisy, and fever dreams of the Westerner.
Marijn Lems in NRCRead the review here
"I came here with plans to make a work about migration because I’d read an article about an imminent African exodus, but one of the group's performers said: 'You all seem to be going through a midlife crisis. You're looking at tomorrow with apprehension, and are filled with nostalgia for yesterday.' Their faith in the future contrasts with our desire to cling to the past."
Lorianne van Gelder (Het Parool) interviewed Dries Verhoeven during the making of Dear beloved friend, (4 March 2023)Read the review here
"The performers briefly flip things on their head. The moment they pull on the masks, they’re making fun of white people. ‘Can we please do a send-up of that white guy,’ they said to me, ‘because we see so many stereotypes of ourselves.'"
Lotje IJzermans interviewed Dries Verhoeven in VPRO's Nooit Meer SlapenListen to the interview (language: Dutch)
Credits
concept and direction: Dries Verhoeven
creative producer: Joshua Alabi
performance: Ayoola Odubona, Israel Efosa Okpoko, Olorunniyi Zion Praise, Uche Enechukwu, Uche Kingsley Mborogwu, John Zeblon
dramaturgy: Miguel Melgares
directorial assistance: Casper Wortmann, Naomi Steijger
technical staff: Roel Evenhuis, Jeremiah Anthony Irabor, Titus Duitshof, Bolaji Afolabi Rilwan
sound design: Peer Thielen
sound: Adebayo Habib Olaore
light: Biokorogha Tumbra, Anthony Monday
voice over artist: Moshood Fattah
internet technician: Bart van de Woestijne
internet Nigeria: Omotayo Charles Ogunfeibo
video: Adedire Badejo, Blessing Olalekan Okunola, Abiola Semiu Peter, Samuel Abaji
set: Athanasius Akojuru
media runner: Ebenezer Obiji
welfare: Olubanke Oyeniyi
drivers: Dare Oshoniyi, Adekunle Adesanya
executive production: ‘n More – Lise van den Hout & Ellen van Bunnik & Kininso Koncepts – Angela Peters & Emmanuel Anya
production: Studio Dries Verhoeven & Kininso Koncepts
office Kininso Koncepts: admin manager Chinenye Chukwudi, assistant admin manager Oloyede Aribilola, communications Aniefiok Inyang, legal representative: Praise Alabi
trailer: Thorsten Alofs
Dear beloved friend, is made possible by the Performing Arts Fund NL, Gemeente Utrecht, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Dioraphte, Creative Industries Fund NL, Fonds 21 and the Dutch embassy in Nigeria.