The Statement

Fragment from 'The Statement'

In The Statement (2016), associate choreographer Crystal Pite’s gripping, satirical, and chilling boardroom drama comes to life once again. The dancers, engulfed in their own sense of righteousness, fight over control and their subjective ideas of ‘the truth’. With striking gestures and razor-sharp expressions, the dancers will keep you on the edge of your seat. The Statement is a timely and urgent reminder of what goes on behind closed doors in the halls of power.

Credits

Choreography: Crystal Pite
Assistant to choreographer: Jon Bond
Music: Owen Belton
Lighting design: Tom Visser
Set design: Jay Gower Taylor
Costume design: Crystal Pite, Joke Visser

NDT rehearsal directors: Lucas Crandall
Playwright: Jonathon Young
Vocal Preformance: Meg Roe, Colleen Wheeler, Andrew Wheeler, Jonathon Young
Duration: 20 minutes
Premiere date: Feb. 4, 2016
Premiere location: Zuiderstrandtheater, The hague

Original cast

Rena Narumi, Fernando Hernando Magadan, Imre van Opstal, Jon Bond

D
So that must be stated, on the
record, but that doesn’t mean that
it’s the way it happened. Right?
It doesn’t mean that Upstairs
doesn’t know the full extent of
their involvement.

Physical reactions from A, B and C.

B
Okay…

D
Nonetheless, I’m here to get a
statement explaining how your
department acted independently.
I don’t care if it’s the case or not
the case. I get the statement then
we can talk. Then we can deal.
It’s the only way forward.

A
We were tasked with making this
conflict. We were tasked.
B
Wait. Wait!

A
We were told one side would come at
the other –

B
Wait. Wait!

D
This is not helping.

A
And that the two sides were to
“take each other down”. That they
would “cancel each other out” and
that “space would open up”. “For
growth”. That’s the language they
used!

B
Can we take this off record? Can we
take a break?

A
No! I want this stated!

D
Hold on!

A
We were told it was a necessary,
uh, uh, what do you call it?

C
Evil.

A
A necessary evil!

– By Jonathon Young, created with Crystal Pite

Rehearsal | The Statement - Crystal Pite

Jonathon Young

Jonathon is a Canadian theatre artist based in Toronto. He is Playwright-in-Residence with Kidd Pivot, co-founder of Electric Company Theatre, and an award-winning actor who works across Canada in theatre, film, and television.

With choreographer Crystal Pite, Jonathon creates acclaimed productions for Kidd Pivot, including Assembly Hall, Revisor, and Betroffenheit. These works have toured internationally and each received an Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production. Revisor and Betroffenheit were filmed by the *BBC, and Betroffenheit also received the Golden Prague Award and the Rose d’Or in Berlin.

In 2025, Jonathon collaborated with choreographer Guillaume Côte and ballet dancer Sara Mearns to create Don’t Go Home at New York City Center.

Since founding Electric Company Theatre in 1996, Jonathon has co-written and developed more than twenty original productions. His work is known for blending imagination, emotional depth, and theatrical innovation. Jonathon is also a recipient of the UK National Dance Award.

Anna Bekirova about 'The Statement':

“On a shiny table Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young display themes of corruption, greed, power, manipulation and control. Some of our most slippery and dark human traits.

What do these cost us? What does it cost us collectively and globally?

In this piece I get to step into a character with a mischievous mind of her own while at the same time being manipulated and controlled to her very fingertips.

Someone seemingly without morality or empathy. How deep do we dig until we hit the inevitable place of the crushing weight of our decisions? How much choice will we have then? And who pays the biggest toll for our actions? Inside this boardroom the answers to these questions seem a distant reality, but I invite you to take a closer look.”