Killjoy Quiz

In Killjoy Quiz, contestants answer questions during a psychological game in which points are awarded. But what does it mean to win a quiz?

It’s one thing to know all sorts of facts about the world, but it's another to realise the complexity behind the facts.

The pleasant predictability of a television quiz, with Luanda Casella acting as quizmaster and a swinging close-harmony choir of three women, gradually makes way for a much more challenging question: What dominant discourse are we maintaining, either consciously or unconsciously? How does language impact our collective and individual way of thinking about migration, the economy, gender equality and ecology? Words are all-powerful and eloquence is a weapon. The calculated multiple-choice questions in this production reveal some of our prejudices.

A killjoy is a party pooper, someone who spoils the pleasure of others. Luanda Casella portrays Sara Ahmed’s character of the killjoy as someone who is prepared to denounce violence, even if this forces them to create feelings of unease.

Luanda Casella is a Brazilian writer and performer. She tries to save the art of storytelling from the threat of mediatisation and condemnation. By approaching rhetorical concepts in a humorous way, her work reveals constructions within language. Casella investigates unreliable narratives in fiction and in everyday communication flows.

Casella has performed in theatres and at festivals around the world, such as Spielart (Munich), Edinburgh International Festival, Het TheaterFestival (Ghent) and Kaserne (Basel). With her latest solo performance Short of Lying, she won the Sabam schrijfprijs award at the Theater aan Zee (TAZ) festival in Ostend.

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text and direction Luanda Casella with Luanda Casella, Yolanda Mpelé and Lindah Nyirenda composition Pablo Casella vocals Timia Van der Linden, Helena Casella en Maïmouna Rachels dramaturghy Sébastien Hendrickx coaching and choreography Lucius Romeo-Fromm scenography Felix Fasolt light design Dennis Diels production NTGent co-production Workspacebrussels, De Grote Post with support of The Belgian Tax Shelter, the Flemish government photo Michiel Devijver