A Theatre That Is a World
The world is becoming more tense. As authoritarian regimes gain ground, exclusionary language is becoming the norm. But in the face of these tendencies, the body – the first to be attacked if it is different or even simply visible – remains. It is that which does not yield entirely: that which resists, speaks out, dances, loves and can invent other ways of being together.
Five years ago, my first season opened under the slogan Hypercorps. Today, as I begin my second term at the helm of the Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, this intuition is confirmed. The project is now part of a longer-term vision – spanning ten years – to further a single aim: to make theatre a space where bodies matter. Bodies that are free and fearless. Bodies that are unique and connected. Bodies that are worlds. Just like Brussels, a city that is a world, too. Our theatre resembles it because it is rooted in a creative territory and extends far beyond to explore other artistic landscapes.
A theatre of connection
A theatre’s identity is not something that can be decreed. It is built with those who inhabit it: the teams, the associate artists, the guest artists, the audiences. Over the past five years, a conviction has taken hold: the desire to make the Théâtre National a theatre of connection. This implies more porous forms of creation, hybrid and interdisciplinary, intergenerational, involving artists and audiences and, above all, the stage and the city. A theatre where experimentation is a concrete practice. Stories are no longer conveyed solely from the stage; they circulate, addressing everyone at the very heart of the city. The festival À la scène comme à la ville is proof of this: new initiatives are taking root outside our walls, reaching different audiences, and sometimes finding their own form of representation. CRUSH nurtures this desire to discover new things. Four Brussels theatres – Théâtre National, Théâtre les Tanneurs, Varia - Théâtre & Studio and le Rideau – are now coming together around a single festival dedicated to French-speaking Belgian theatre.
The welcoming body
A theatre’s identity is also shaped by those we meet when we cross the threshold: the reception team, our ushers. Their presence shapes the experience, as they are the ones who immediately take care of the audience. Their commitment is spotlighted through a collaboration with stylist Kenza Taleb Vandeput and London-based fashion photographer Jordan Core for the season’s visuals.
Connections that last
In terms of the programme, this new cycle is not starting from a tabula rasa, but building on the previous one through its collaborations. We see the return of Une tentative presque comme une autre by the Papachristou brothers, which was staged during my very first season. Its revival embodies an ongoing dialogue with artists who left their mark on our house. Fabrice Murgia also makes a long-awaited return, and Anne-Cécile Vandalem begins a new creative cycle that we are eager to discover. Associate artist Joëlle Sambi occupies a unique position as she will be presenting a new version of Maison Chaos and co-writing La Fête with Anne-Cécile Vandalem.
The new group of associate artists – Justine Lequette, Joëlle Sambi, Ayelen Parolin, Gaël Santisteva and Rébecca Chaillon– continues the link with the Théâtre National and their previous projects presented on our stages.
Repertoire and dance
This season, the repertoire takes centre stage: Christophe Sermet, Aurore Fattier and Eline Schumacher revisit major works (Shakespeare, Feydeau), reconfiguring them without erasing them or obscuring the style of their authors. Dance returns in grand style: the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company with William Forsythe and Thomas Hauert, the return of Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker with Ictus and Bl!ndman performing early works by Philip Glass, and Urban Dance Caravan, which in just a few years has become a highlight early in the new season.
Shifting the framework
Beyond the big names, performance codes are also changing. In Nassim Soleimanpour’s ECHO, the performer arrives without knowing the text, just like the audience. The experience takes shape in real time. For his part, Guy Cassiers confronts the generation of today’s artists with that of yesterday. Here too, the theatre becomes a place of experience. He questions the theatrical contract and occasionally breaks the fourth wall to establish a more vibrant relationship with the audience.
The subjects are sometimes serious. And yet a lucid and joyful energy runs through the season. The kind of energy we experience collectively when an entire audience laughs or is moved collectively, when a body in motion opens up the space, when a story, shared or not, connects us.
Pierre Thys, General and artistic director of the Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles
