A bad ventriloquist brings her parrot Brenda to the classroom. He struggles to keep his mouth shut and keeps talking about the shrinking attention span of the audience. Understandably so, as the ventriloquist's talent doesn't inspire much confidence. She clumsily battles through a vulnerable monologue, while Brenda interrupts with tips and tricks. Will she manage to keep the parrot quiet long enough to finish her story?
In the second part, the classroom is taken over for a masterclass on attention and distraction. Together with a theater teacher, students test their own focus: how long can you hold it, how quickly do you lose it, and who or what is actually pulling the strings? Through playful challenges and thought experiments, they become experts at maintaining and (consciously) losing their own attention.
Meanwhile, everything is cheerfully sabotaged. It becomes painfully yet humorously clear how much happens unnoticed in your perception, leading to a conversation about looking, missing, and seeing again.

What starts as a rubbish ventriloquism act develops into a hilarious dialogue about scrolling, short attention spans, brain rot and what it means to be present in the here and now. A loud and funny show about the effort it takes to stay in control of your own attention.
Shut Your Beak is suitable for vmbo + lower-level havo/vwo.
Performance period: March/April 2027, date to be arranged
Location: at school, in a classroom
Duration of the performance + workshop: 90 minutes
Group size: maximum of 25 students
Costs: 350 euros (If multiple performances are scheduled in one day, we can discuss the price.)

Director
Lara van Hoof is an artist working at the intersection of theatre, documentary and visual art. She is fascinated by everyday situations in which people try to navigate life. By zooming in very closely, she seeks out humour, beauty and existential complexity in the simple things.

Credits
Text: Artun Alaska Arasli
Performance: Roos Bottinga
Dramaturgy: Joachim Robbrecht
Education: Martha Villada Márquez & Jasmine van Putten
Made possible by: European Theatre Convention (Young Europe V)