Life slips past us while we try to keep control. But how do we stay curious, how do we remain open to the unexpected? What happens when we lose our sense of wonder, when we grow numb to the small marvels of everyday life?

As a philosopher of the everyday, Benjamin Verdonck reminds us that failure is part of living, and that happiness often hides in what seems insignificant.

A paper bag, a step stool, and a touch of melancholy — that’s all he needs for his solo performance All before death is life. Like a magician with empty hands, and inspired by comic greats such as Tommy Cooper, Buster Keaton, and Ōno Kazuo, Verdonck enchants us with the disarming wonder of his universe: a world of silence, gentle humor, and surprising beauty.

A show where everything goes off the rails, on a world stage where everything falls apart — yet you don’t look away. You keep searching, singing, reaching out, flipping into the unknown and crashing down, because before death, there is life.