In 700 BC, the Greek poet Hesiodos wrote down a series of suggestions about the art of agriculture for his brother. This letter, titled ‘Works and Days’ (Werken en dagen), became a Farmer’s Almanac in verse form that combines agricultural advice with a guide to life in general.

FC Bergman is adopting Hesiodos’ title for its own reflection on living on (and with) the land. A life lived according to the rhythm of the seasons, the laws of the earth and the customs of the community that cultivates it. A new age, however, with new possibilities and desires, is making its way in this fragile marriage between humans and the earth.

Whereas FC Bergman’s production The Sheep Song (2021) was a paean to the freedom of the individual and the manipulability of life, Werken en dagen is a veritable ode to the unstoppable power of the group and the boundless power of nature. Although in a way it also – and inevitably – becomes an elegy. 

Werken en dagen in the press

"With Werken en dagen , FC Bergman once again pushes back frontiers. Their superb swansong for collective farming is already the ecological wake-up call of the season. (...) You see the paintings of Bruegel and Permeke, of Claus and Millet, but especially of FC Bergman. As such, Werken en dagen is a classic example of imaginative representation." - De Standaard 

"It is an alarming and at the same time extraordinarily beautiful image of humanity gone astray: people will never make it on their own, but as a group they become overconfident, lose sight of nature, and therefore go down just the same. Left or right, it is bad news for that splendidly ploughing, planting, plodding human being." - De Volkskrant

"Visually dazzling, thematically rich show about humanity’s relationship with the land" - The Stage

"The show's brutal but elegant simplicity makes for a refreshing contrast to the more theme-heavy plays at the Fringe. (...) In Works and Days there are no explainers, just a pure visual treat - bracy, witty and highly memorable." - The New York Times