Hof der dingen - The controversial book "Sugar" – by Hugo Claus

Theatre maker, director, performer, and actor Chokri Ben Chikha has a soft spot for people who go against the grain and march to the beat of their own drum– like salmon swimming upstream. “They’re the ones trying to make a change – achieve something. Like Hugo Clause, for example. I made an adaption of his play ‘Suiker’, which originally was a story about Flemish migrant workers in France. I transformed it into a story about seasonal workers with migrant backgrounds in the hospitality industry of Blankenberge. A memorable production!”, he proudly recalls. 

A fun tidbit: when the play was performed at the Casino of Blankenberge, Ben Chikha was summoned by the mayor of Ronse, who had one main complaint: "too much French was spoken on stage”, Chokri says. 

The production, titled ‘Bruine Suiker’ (Brown Sugar), also holds deep personal significance for Ben Chikha. “It was the first – and last – play my parents ever attended,” he says. “Although they respect what I do, they politely asked never to be invited again, finding the show too vulgar.” He chuckles, adding, “My mother even got an eye infection afterwards and fully blamed that on watching the play!” 

One of the risks taken? “We didn’t have enough money to pay for the rights to do the remake – we could still be sued for that!” he admits. “That’s why I didn’t even dare to invite Hugo Claus at the time. But I later met him – and he turned out to be a very amicable man.”