A Sublime Mistake

Auditorio de Tenerife presents in La Salita Un sublime error. Una recapitulación del pasado (A Sublime Mistake. A recapitulation of the past), a solo performance by Gonzalo Cunill of the NeedCompany.

A Sublime Mistake — performed by Gonzalo Cunill — is based on all the slightly lost male characters in the work of Jan Lauwers, the piece’s creator and director. It offers an intimate portrait of a man who views the world with amazement and cannot even understand why he is part of it.

Lauwers’ most well-known works notably include Isabella’s Room, The Lobster Shop, Morning Song, Ulrike and The Snakesong Trilogy, and many others. Fundamentally, all of his work is grounded in a quest to create as complete a portrait as possible of the person with whom he is collaborating at the time. In fact, Lauwers places the same importance on the character and the person playing the character. Lauwers’ works get under the skin of his characters as individuals, always pursuing a way of moving beyond contemporary dogmas concerning diversity and identity. He places human nature at the forefront and centre stage by doing so. Failure, love, struggle and significant and trivial problems always play a special role.

Jan Lauwers: “This work is about friendship. The three portraits in this story are a part of myself. They are based on my first theatre shows and the friendships I have cherished throughout my work. It is also evident that Gonzalo sat smiling somewhere in my studio while I wrote the work.” In A Sublime Mistake, one character says it is much more challenging to be forever angry than to hide behind a smile. “With this work, I have attempted to view this smile not as an act of cowardice, but rather as a weapon to defend humanity itself”, explains Lauwers. 

*Photographs by ©Vibe Stalpaert