Marleen Hendrickx

A theatrical concert about identity, agency and queer joy. 

Enfin, Barbin. is a multimedia performance in which performer Marleen Hendrickx brings the 19th-century French intersex Herculine Barbin to life. Through dance, projection and light-hearted acting, Marleen liberates Herculine’s experiences from the compulsive attempts to categorise them as male or female. And in doing so, she also liberates herself.

The starting point for *Enfin, Barbin.* is Barbin’s book; the only surviving personal account by an intersex person in Western Europe. In her memoirs, she describes how, following a secret relationship with a female colleague, she was legally declared a man. More than a century later, the philosopher Michel Foucault discovered her memoirs and published them alongside Barbin’s medical reports, a romanticised version of her story by the German psychiatrist Oskar Panizza, and Foucault’s own reflections. It was in this form that the book gained notoriety, resulting in three men mercilessly imposing their voices on Herculine.

Through music, dance, live video and a voice distorter, Marleen restores control to its rightful owner. Alternating between her transparent self and ‘boldly’ portrayed characters, she gives Herculine the queer joy that she herself discovered after coming out as an intersex person. Joy as protest and as an antidote to medical normalisation and social invisibility.

‘Enfin, Barbin.’ is a follow-up to Marleen’s solo piece *X Y I*; a ‘critic’s choice’ in *Theaterkrant* and a ‘top-class production – light-hearted and impressive’, according to *Dagblad van het Noorden*. As an intersex theatre maker in the Netherlands, Marleen presents a story that is new, enlightening and confrontational for many people. But it is also a story that contributes to awareness, empathy and a shift in policy and culture. Marleen has previously appeared at Cultura Nova in productions by Stormkamer. This year, too, she is collaborating with Stormkamer to gather stories from residents of Heerlen for the ‘Salon tussen Zorg en Zuchten’. With *Enfin, Barbin*, Marleen is presenting her first solo performance at the festival.

Via Zuid supports emerging professional performing artists in and from Limburg on their path to a professional career. Together with partners such as Cultura Nova, talented creators are given the opportunity to surprise and enrich the world with their performances and projects.