Koning der Kaasvlinders (King of the Cheese Butterflies)
Research Project & Workshop Programme (2014)

The King of the Cheese Butterflies serves as a metaphor for dictatorship, prejudice, oppression, and the failure to understand one another. The King rules his people with a harsh, unfeeling hand. Yet one of his subjects, Madame Wasp, gradually manages to thaw his frozen heart, teaching him empathy and compassion. This contemporary musical fairytale, infused with humour and absurdity, offers a playful but poignant reflection on society and the dynamics of power.

Through music, dance, and wit, the project tackles challenging themes in a way that is accessible to both young and adult audiences. Just as prejudice often verges on the absurd, the story of the Cheese Butterflies is intentionally exaggerated, holding up a mirror to human behaviour.

The production, supported by CODE 043 and the Kannunik Salden Fund, blends flamenco, hip hop, physical theatre, and contemporary dance into a unique performance language. Emerging from cylindrical objects suspended like cocoons, the Cheese Butterflies begin their journey. One amongst them, more restless and domineering than the rest, proclaims himself King from the very first moment he opens his bulging eyes and gazes upon his luscious, golden, cheese-kingdom-to-be. Years later, he looks back on his reign with doubt, questioning the choices he has made—especially towards the lady in the red dress, with her wasp waist and fierce determination, who once tried so hard to change his heart.

At once whimsical and unsettling, The King of the Cheese Butterflies invites audiences to confront issues of power, empathy, and bias—through an imaginative world where the grotesque and the poetic live side by side.