A new theatrical adaptation of King Leopold's Soliloquy's will be
opening in Belgium next week.  The following was sent to me for the
Forum by Jean-Pierre Orban who wrote the adaptation:

King Leopold II, adapted from Mark Twain’s King Leopold's Soliloquy,
is to be performed from Feb 22nd to March 26th, 2005 at the Theatre
de la Place des Martyrs in Brussels. The adaptation has been written
by Jean-Pierre Orban, first translator of Twain's satire into French
(first edition in Brussels in 1987, second edition at L'Harmattan, Paris,
2005). The play is directed by Jean-Michel d'Hoop (Compagnie Point
Zero).

The play is part of a huge debate in Belgium about its colonial past,
especially about King Leopold's rule of the Independent State of
Congo at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
Even before the first performance, the associations of former colonials
requested that the authorities cancel the play. All the media have
echoed the controversy.

To book: Théâtre de la Place des Martyrs
Brussels from Feb 22nd
to March 26th 2005 - T: +32 2 223 32 08
Press relations: Catherine Ansay: +32 486 577 952 -
[log in to unmask]
www.pointzero.be

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For those of you read French, additional information about the
production can be found at

http://www.pointzero.be/

The site has an odd navigation system.  I got the best results by
clicking on the King Leopold photo at the top left and then selecting
"Dossier de presse" from the upper drop down menu on the left of the
next page.

You might find some of the media controversy in Le Soir at

http://www.lesoir.be/

It published several articles about the play and Mark Twain on the
17th (page 31).

Jim Zwick