Strange Interlude is at the same time a melodramatic portrait, a comic strip, an opera, a documentary, a family soap and on top a sharp criticism on all these genres. The human psyche is tarnished. The entire male carousel runs away with itself. The family is exposed as an inferno. Moreover Perceval casts a critical eye on the catholic Flemish mentality which restricts life instead of allowing its freedom. All this is brought on stage in all its brusque multiplicity. Strange Interlude is a five hour O'Neill soap opera. O'Neill conjures up man's eternal dilemmas and is seen as the precursor of all great theatre big shots such as Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller.

Premiere: 30/03/1990 – Grand Theatre, Groningen, The Netherlands

Blauwe Maandag Cie/ Co-production Noordelijk Theatre De Voorziening Groningen

cast: victor löw, vic de wachter, katelijne damen, michel van dousselaere, jakob beks, stany crets, carina van der sande
text: eugene o'neill
direction: luk perceval
bewerking: pol dehert, luk perceval and gommer van rousselt
scenography: jan maillard
costumes: greet prové
dramaturgy: gommer van rousselt
light design: steve kemp


'Strange Interlude' is selected for the Flemish-Dutch Theaterfestival. At the same festival Luk Perceval is nominated for the Proscenium Prize for his direction of 'Strange Interlude'. Luk Perceval is rewarded by the V.A.B. with the Oscar De Gruyter Prize. Victor Löw is nominated for the Arlecchino (best male supporting role) for his role as Charlie Marsden and Katelijne Damen is nominated for the Theo d'Or (best female leading role) for her role as Nina Leeds and receives V.A.B.'s public award. The performance is also awarded the Dommelsch Theatre Prize for most remarkable production of the season.'

"In my plays I gradually started with focussing on the communication between actor and his/her partner and the interaction between the actor and the spectator. By directing Strange Interlude I learned that there is also a communication, or if you want confrontation, between the actor and the text and between the actor and the space he/she occupies. Moreover in this performance we paid a lot of attention to the force of semiotic creativity. Every sign, symbol, is related to another sign, the result being a multi-layered story." (LP in 1992)