Héritage

In Héritage, Cédric Eeckhout brings to the stage his mother, Jo Libertiaux, born in 1945. Free-spirited and independent, Jo forged her own path in a world dominated by men. In her, Cédric sees a fighter. Driven by a profound love of life, Jo tells her story while her son reimagines and stages it, exploring themes such as women’s emancipation and economic, social, and political history.

Their voices intertwine: that of a divorced woman, mother of four, who balanced her work as a hairdresser with raising a family before becoming an actor after retirement; and that of her actor son, who identifies as queer and reflects on inheritance, masculinity, and sexism.

Blending intimacy, emotion, and humour, mother and son explore what is passed from one generation to the next in a time marked by successive crises—climate, pandemic, political, and social—as well as by enduring forms of racism and sexism. Yet it is precisely through the cracks in a world shaped by colonial and patriarchal traditions that new possibilities begin to emerge. From voices that are fragile, marginalised, or too often unheard arises the hope of a different future.