A newlywed couple moves into their home. The hunting dogs, normally well-trained, bark loudly and suspiciously sniff the meek and beautiful bride. And then, when the couple go for a stroll, a really disturbing metamorphosis takes place. Where there’d been the woman just now, a startled little fox has appeared. Desperately, the fox jumps into her husband’s arms.

The book ‘Lady into Fox’ by author David Garnett became a sensation in England immediately after it was published in 1922. ‘Vrouw of Vos’, its Dutch translation by Irwan Droog, was selected ‘Book of the Month’ in March 2018 by the DWDD book panel.

After her successful Bellevue Lunch theatre show ‘Mahler & Kokoschka’, director Ulrike Quade has turned ‘Lady into Fox’ into a contemporary performance about metamorphosis, chaos and the unrecognizability of people’s own existence. She turns the love story into a reflection on loyalty and stability.

Judith Herzberg (Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren 2018) writes the text for the performance, inspired by Garnett’s story. Alexa Meyerman creates a breathable decor. Ulrike Quade Company builds a house on quicksand with music by Rutger Zuydervelt and performers Annelinde Bruijs (Club Gewalt) and Marijn Klaver (Mahler & Kokoschka). Lady into Fox is a fusion of text, puppetry, animation, visual arts, music and singing about clinging to the very thing that offers no support at all.