Radical change means: making bold artistic choices, giving opportunities to a varied talents, bringing in new perspectives, becoming more feminized, colour-diffuse, transformative. Outsiders become insiders: a new way of exploring theatre and the city. Not a revolution but a radically focused evolution. With our eyes open to the world and firmly anchored in Antwerp.
TONEELHUIS aims to bring an updated and emancipated mindset onto the main stage, making room for a new generation. Transition, development, innovation, professional expertise, inventiveness, history, creativity and imagination...these are just a few words that will help determine the course of this magnificent theatre ship.
The new artistic direction of TONEELHUIS has opted for a highly diversified and notably smaller artistic core in the Toneelhuis of the future, with the focus on an equitable exchange between all those involved.. Two renowned and award-winning companies from recent operations led by Guy Cassiers will form part of the new artistic core: Olympique Dramatique and FC Bergman. They will be joined by three young theatre-makers: Lisaboa Houbrechts, Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe and Gorges Ocloo (who also remains at Muziektheater LOD as artist-in-residence and is part of the artistic leadership of Beeldsmederij DE MAAN in Mechelen).
In addition, Toneelhuis is launching a structural change: a 'free space' that is to be reallocated annually. In this space, from the autumn of 2022 onwards, we will offer the possibility of supporting intriguing and interesting plans of artists who are not part of the artistic core in an equivalent manner to those who are. This will involve productions and co-productions with both national and international artists and partners. In the coming season, Jaouad Alloul, Naomi Velissariou and tg STAN will kick off this 'free space'.
The fact that we are advocating an intergenerational approach implies that collaboration, respect and love will be important components in the realization of a safe space, for preferably as many people as possible. The future lies ahead of us; what tomorrow and the days after that bring will be the breeding ground for our collective prospects for the future.
We are looking forward to an exciting journey!