ONTROEREND GOED
Performance and theatre company Ontroerend Goed breaks with the tradition of relegating audience members to the role of observer. Instead, the collective sees the audience as part of the show. In their debut ‘The Smile Off Your Face’ (2004), the audience of one was blindfolded and bound to a wheelchair. Since then the company does its best to find other ways of keeping the audience glued to their seats. Ontroerend Goed strives for an intense theatrical experience with creations that revolve around the fleeting nature of setbacks. Because life goes on, after all – even during the show. Creations such as ‘Fight Night’ (2013), ‘Are we not drawn onward to new erA’ (2015) and ‘£¥€$’ (2017) achieved great success and now tour the world, some in the form of extremely intimate one-on-one performances, some filling grand theatres. Formal unpredictability is one of the company’s calling cards.
Ontroerend Goed delivers intense experiences, constructed within the reality of the theatre. With the conviction that life goes on, even during a show, the group immerses the audience in the realities they have conceived, encouraging us to question our positions in the world today as individuals. Under the leadership of artistic director Alexander Devriendt, the collective values the individuyal contributions and artistic ownership of their co-creators, from actors to light designers, scenographers to concept initiators.
In the production, ‘Loopstation’ (2018), nine performers construct a world on a rotating disc. A fascinating microcosmos where everything is interconnected and the looping doesn’t stop things moving forward. Ontroerend Goed will continue to develop new creations under Vooruit’s roof until 2021.
Zwijgen is geen optie nodigde Alexander Devriendt (artistiek directeur) uit voor een babbel over hoe je te verhouden tegenover structuren, pragmatisch kunstenaarschap, oplossingen voor de zinloosheid van het bestaan, zoektochten en meditatie. Geen voorbereide preek, geen blinde overtuiging, geen ego. Wel een mens die een ontwapenend eerlijke inkijk geeft in zijn hoofd: