Cool Frogs, Photo: Courtesy of the artist
Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 6:00PM
The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts – Washington, DC
Sunday, October 23, 2011 at 11:00AM & 1:00PM
La Maison Francaise – Washington, DC
Monday, October 24, 2011 at 10:30AM & 12:00PM
La Maison Francaise – Washington, DC
School Performances
A magical world full of sweet violin sounds, frightened voices, soft farts, astonished eyes, red balloons and… lots of frogs!
Crazy situations to make you terribly lively, enormously anxious, pitiful angry, sweaty frightened and carefree sad.
Ages 4 and up.
Etienne Borgers is a singer/composer, educated at the Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands. He was part of the international operating a-capella group Intermezzo and won the Concourse de la Chanson in Amsterdam in 1995. Apart from his solo-performances he is an in-house composer with theatre groups ‘The Lunatics’ and ‘Prins-te-Paard’.
Etienne designs languages from sounds. Humorous languages, sad languages, absurd languages and very well to understand languages. He composes music in which these languages are spoken. He sings these languages and with them he writes operas.
In 2004 a large amount of beautiful, funny and sometimes absurd sounding compositions by Etienne were waiting to be picked up. Of pure folly he did not know what to do with them. Together with regisseur Hans Spin, with whom he had cooperated in Intermezzo, he decided to develop a performance for small children with this unique material. This very first solo performance, called ‘Spraakmakend’, was performed more than 200 times with huge success in Holland, Belgium, Germany and Austria.
In 2005 ‘Cool Frogs’ followed. And in 2007: ‘Sheep’.
The beautiful world created in these performances is one of great wonder and emotion. Poetic moments are interspersed with laughter. Tragedy is interspersed with slapstick. Emotion and impudence go hand in hand. His singing and his wayward are the foundation of his performances.
Compositions and acting: Etienne Borgers
Directed by: Hans Spin
Costumes: Bri Manuel
Graphics: Fred Thie
Etienne’s work borders on the insane but it is all the more attractive for it. He flirts with the surreal – a world children are well acquainted with – but manages to bring to it extremes of emotion, from mischief to frustration, loneliness to love. This he does with a constant, musical soundtrack that evokes the physical as well as emotional landscape alongside an unflinching capacity to emote on stage. Fascinating, different – performance art for kids!
Kate Cross – Director – the egg / Theatre Royal Bath
Many, many thanks for a wonderful performance! I saw COOL FROGS at The Sandefjord Theatre Festival in june 2008, and I thought: YESSSS! This is THEATRE!
To take children seriously means for me to give children the same quality as grown-ups expect. And COOL FROGS is quality! The audience (children and grown-ups) had a great experience. It is a warm and playful performance, made by an excellent actor.
Terje Hartviksen, Teatersjef, Brageteatret Drammen, Norway
Etienne Borgers knows how to get a crazy swing on stage with his voice and numerous would-be languages
Ik Hou Van Theater – website
Every adult that still knows how to be a child can go all the way with the atmosphere Borgers creates on stage. And so do the children that watch this show!
Johan Veenstra – general manager theatre De Twee Hondjes, Hellevoetsluis
Cool Frogs shows very impressive what makes children’s theatre so attractive for children
Aachener Zeitung, Germany
