“But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more.” – Hans Christian Andersen

Why do we cry? As soon as we are born, bystanders wait with bated breath until the infant unleashes its first cries. Tears are our most primary form of communication, but throughout life, we learn to keep them inside. In time, tears make way for words. But when words fail, how do we read those tears?

How we answer these questions is strongly linked to the society we live in. It depends on myriad factors, including context, gender, and age. Is there space today for our tears of sadness, joy or rage – or are we mostly expected to simply stop crying?

Following last season’s Fear No More, KVS dramaturge Dina Dooreman now gathers artists and speakers around the theme of ‘crying’ for Cry (No) More. How can we look at tears from a scientific, historic, cultural, … point of view? Why do we talk about a ‘crying fit’ or the ‘vale of tears’ like they are natural disasters? What about male vulnerability, grieving practices old and new, and ‘white woman’s tears’? Through (artistic) interventions, we dive into an ocean of tears and dissect various ways of dealing with them.

Participating Artists

Dounia Mahammed
Jana Antonissen
You You Group
Michelle Woods
Sad Banana
Dina Dooreman