DanceHouse To Present the BC Premiere of Peeping Tom's DIPTYCH: THE MISSING DOOR AND THE LOST ROOM

DanceHouse will present the BC premiere of Peeping Tom's intriguing theatrical dream world Diptych: The missing door and The lost room, on stage at the Vancouver Playhouse April 24-26, 2025.

Created by co-founders Gabriela Carrizo and Franck Chartier, the paired works of Diptych introduce audiences to a collection of odd and archetypal individuals in seemingly real and stable environments – a banal hallway and a ship's cabin – only to slide into a mysterious and macabre labyrinth that defies all logic of time and space.

“We are delighted to introduce Vancouver audiences to the multiple-award-winning Belgian dance theatre company, Peeping Tom,” says Jim Smith, Artistic and Executive Director of DanceHouse. “Peeping Tom takes on a surreal and highly cinematic storytelling approach, featuring extraordinary physicality and pushing the limits of movement with astonishing performances. Diptych deftly balances darkness with moments of absurd humour as the company delves into psychological depths to explore relationships, subconscious fears, and the nature of reality itself.” 

As Diptych unfolds, eight talented performers navigate a series of increasingly bizarre scenarios, where coherence fractures and reality bends. Elements of film noir and dark comedy, paired with an all-enveloping soundscape and foley effects, immerse audiences in a world of shifting perceptions where space and time remain in constant flux.

Set changes occur in full view, seamlessly becoming part of the performance, evoking the feel of live film editing and heightening the work's eerie, otherworldly quality. With its hypnotic storytelling and jaw-dropping athleticism, Diptych dissolves the boundary between theatre and dance, drawing audiences into a dreamlike world of heightened realism where “walls not only have ears but full-blown personalities; the closets don't have skeletons but whole bodies look in one of their mirrors and the face you see won't be yours”(The Guardian).

Founded by Carrizo and Chartier, Peeping Tom obliterates the border between theatre and dance, roping together a hyperrealist aesthetic with real-world settings to fashion a disquieting mix of performance genres. Since its foundation in 2000 in Brussels, the company has presented its creations around the world, and has received numerous awards, including a FEDORA Van Cleef & Arpels Prize for Ballet for La Visita, an Olivier Award in the United Kingdom for 32 rue Vandenbranden, a Patrons Circle Award at the International Arts Festival in Melbourne, as well as several selections for the Belgian and Dutch Theatre Festivals.

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