Walter Damen will not be seen in the theater production ‘Assisen IV’ after all. — © ISOPIX
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Walter Damen (50) will then not be on stage in ‘Assisen IV – The Star Murder’, the new interactive theater production by James Cooke (37). The criminal lawyer is no longer allowed to combine rehearsals with his work as a lawyer. Erik Goossens (54) takes over his role and will thus face his wife Bieke Ilegems.
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Desmytere Road
Yesterday at 5:08 PM–
He would play the attorney from June 18 in Assize IV – the star murder, in which the public acts as a jury in a murder trial. He would be seen alongside Bieke Ilegems, Kim Van Oncen and Tom Audenaert, among others. But now Walter Damen announces that he will not be on stage this summer. His role is taken over by actor Erik Goossens. “Despite the fact that James Cooke, in my opinion, asked the question at the right time, I have had to conclude that this cannot be combined with my work as a lawyer,” says Damen.
“I have reached my limits in terms of work and what I can take on. At that point you have to be honest with yourself and your colleagues for whom I have enormous respect. We were also somewhat guided by an incredible mutual enthusiasm and desire to do this that made reality a bit snowy. Erik and Bieke are going to do a great job. Perhaps I should have listened better to my wife, who had warned me about the weight of that role.”
get up at five o’clock
Producer James Cooke understands Damen’s decision. “You felt that the heavy rehearsal schedule was becoming increasingly difficult for Walter to achieve. He is a top professional in everything he does and wanted to mold this role completely to his own style. We certainly learned a lot from him during rehearsals about how it works in a real assize case. The script has now also been worked out in detail by him. In this way he will forever remain a part of this production. We would like to sincerely thank him for all the beautiful and instructive moments of the past few weeks.”
–Not Walter Damen, but Erik Goossens will face Bieke Ilegems as a prosecutor.
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Substitute Erik Goossens no longer has much time to master the role. He is a logical choice. After all, his wife Bieke Ilegems plays the role of the lawyer. The couple is now on stage together for the first time in a long time. “I think it is one of the biggest challenges of my life to bring this role to life by the premiere of June 18,” said Goossens. “I got up every morning at 5 o’clock, from now on it will be to learn my text. I also spoke to Walter and he gave me some tips. And it’s going to be so nice to get into the verbal battle with my wife on stage and compete for every voice of the audience. I’ll see you in court.”
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