Imaginary Numbers is a playful and critical performance with a philosophical approach on the border between contemporary clowning and theatre about the aggression of counting.

In Imaginary Numbers, two clowns keep themselves and each other in balance on a life-size seesaw. They are looking for something to hold on to in order to make their world manageable. They seem to find that stability in figures and numbers, but soon the clowns are swept away by the chaos, the illogical, the uncountable and the uncontrollable that always finds a way to seep into our (counting) systems.

Geert Belpaeme and Estefanía Álvarez Ramírez question the absurdity of “the number” and the way in which we compulsively substantiate our actions with figures, counting and binary thinking. For how real are the numbers we count with? Can we invent a language in which we count without numbers?

Imaginary Numbers is an English-language performance with a philosophical approach that flirts with the boundary between contemporary clowning and theatre. The critical and playful performance embraces absurdity and finds poetry in the immeasurable.

Memento Festival will be held in Kortrijk between 12 and 29 March 2026. Myriem El-Kaddouri, as Letterzetter (city poet), is the festival’s curator and has chosen ‘absurdity’ as its theme. This performance is part of the festival. There are other performances in the building. You can find the full line-up at www.mementofestival.be.