“Consequently, last season is something of an ode to the theatre as one of the oldest but most efficient places where a society dares to examine its conscience and often finds the experience chastening”, reads the introduction to the report by the jury chaired by Helmut Lotigiers.
Herewith an excerpt from the jury’s report justifying the choice of Hamlet vs Hamlet: “A masterful staging of Shakespeare’s Hamlet by director Guy Cassiers. (…) Abke Haring’s performance is intense and physical and as hard-hitting as Lanoye’s script which reads like a clear, musical and engrossing argument against tyranny. (…)Ief Spincemaille’s set is nothing short of fantastic. (…) A strong image of the fragile border between war and peace. Then and now.”
A quote from the jury’s report justifying the choice of notallwhowanderarelost: “This stilled show is a crystal-clear answer to the spectacular pace and hectic chaos of modern-day society. Verdonck compels admiration with this dreamy ode to hastelessness, to slowness. Something like this is only really possible in the theatre. Like children he has adults look at the seemingly simple wooden framework that resembles a dismantled wooden doll’s house. The ‘triangle ballet’ which then ensues with its (im)possible moves – with thanks to Verdonck who carefully pulls the right strings or if necessary squeezes between the wooden planks – represents the fragility of perfection. And the frailty of the perfectionist. As the manipulator of the strings, Verdonck makes himself very vulnerable and with great concentration works his way towards the fascinating final image which sends you off home, your eyes sparkling with admiration.”
A quote from the jury’s report on Van den vos: "What a bunch of show-offs they are those FC Bergmannen! (…) They clearly have a good nose for overpowering images and the skill to translate their subject - in this case a legendary epic animal poem – into an engrossing and memorable series of images. Those images are given extra punch by first-rate actors like Dirk Roofthooft and Viviane De Muynck. And Josse De Pauw’s script and Gregory Frateur singing the fox add further colour. Van den vos is about the fox in you, in each of us. We abhor what the fox does, we condemn it, but cannot deny that there is a potential fox in all of us. That same hypocrisy is reflected in the sublime extracts of film: however horrific we find the murders, we go on watching transfixed. Something we also do at the cinema and even in real life. This tour de force shows that these young theatre-makers can write their own new and visually arresting chapter in our theatre history. Van den vos is a milestone in their development and oeuvre because here visual splendour and powerful content find the perfect balance.”
