Rumba

From 15 years old

Performance created on November 28, 2025 at Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles

For centuries, Saint Francis of Assisi has fascinated the world. Sometimes called the Alter Christus, he has been the focus of countless gazes, profoundly transforming the history of the Church. A forerunner of interfaith dialogue, defender of the poor, patron saint of nature, inventor of the first nativity scene — his image, though sometimes clouded by interpretations, continues to inspire believers, laypeople, historians, and artists alike, even eight centuries after his death.

But what if he had not been born in 1182, but in 1982? Where would we find him today?
Among warehouse workers moving crates in a logistics center?
Among the homeless on the parking lot of a suburban supermarket?
And what kind of nativity scene would he build among the trash bins?

After Laïka (2017) and Pueblo (2020), Rumba will conclude the trilogy by David Murgia and Ascanio Celestini, dedicated to the precarious and the dispossessed of our social model.
This new creation, set during Christmas night, intertwines the stories of characters living on the fringes of society, the media narrative, and capitalist activity — in a small suburban area where poor souls, men and women alike, achieve the daily miracle of surviving in a world that crushes them.