In addition, a very fine small-scale work by Maarten Seghers, could be seen in the Studio. This was the installation-performance So man/The Tragedy of Applause, which once again demonstrated what it is that can make this art form so interesting: a simple mise-en-scène, verging on the hackneyed but thought through to the finest detail; the attitude of the performer is that of a laboratory assistant who, like a sorcerer’s apprentice, appears not to know what is going on. But only appears not to – since the action and reaction were meticulously attuned to each other, even in the well-conceived interplay with the unfathomable, here represented by a small child. One certainly cannot accuse Seghers of introducing the child purely to gain the sympathy of the audience (as happens in truly old-fashioned theatres, when there is by chance no role for a dog in the play): it was after all the applause itself that was the theme of the piece. In this extraordinarily charming experiment in insight, interest and artisthood, he gave himself the part of the jester.