Test case & talk: DEAR FRAIL MALE Just van Bommel

In the run-up to their forthcoming production DEAR FRAIL MALE, Just van Bommel is sharing their ‘work in progress’ with an audience on 29 October. In this preliminary study, Van Bommel twists a personal anecdote, tailoring it to their purpose. After the show, you are welcome to share responses to the work and your relationship to the themes it addresses.

Test case & talk: DEAR FRAIL MALE Just van Bommel

Location

Frascati

Nes 63

1012 KD Amsterdam

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In this version of DEAR FRAIL MALE, Just tells a story about an ‘encounter’ with a group of fifteen boys in a playground, starting off from the big question: What if, right at the moment when it really counted, you were just as sharp as you would hope to be?

Imagine: on the way home, you are suddenly approached by a group of fifteen boys. They ask questions – about ‘what’ you are, what you’re wearing. Whether you have a dick or not. Taken off guard by the event, you’re unable to find the right answers. Or to respond to these threatening comments about your identity in the way you’d like. You probably also wouldn’t be able to wittily point out just how pathetic and stupid your aggressors really are. And, in the heat of the moment, there’s no way you could find any understanding of the reasons why these ‘child-men’ are shouting insults at you.

But what if you could?

This work strives to throw some light on the struggles of boys and men searching for identity in a world that confuses strength with aggression and vulnerability with weakness. As well as a retort, this is also an attempt to reflect on common conceptions of what masculinity should be and the price we pay for maintaining these.

This 'interim version' of DEAR FRAIL MALE is part of a larger research project into men, and will première as a Frascati production on 24 January 2025.

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