And yet the name – and for that matter, even the artists – give you very little idea of what to expect when you walk into a Needcompany production. Even after an hour spent with Barkey discussing it, I wasn’t sure what I would be seeing during her premiere of This door is too small (for a bear) in Brussels later this month.

Or did I?

And does it matter?

Needcompany was founded in 1986, riding on the “Flemish wave”, a period of radical, groundbreaking work by Lauwers and other artists that achieved international recognition.

The Antwerp-born Lauwers studied painting in Ghent in the 1970s, but the pull of theatre was strong and led him to found Epigonentheater, a collaborative company whose foundational principle was that it had no director. But Lauwers saw that he was increasingly taking on this role, and he disbanded the company in the mid 1980s.

Barkey was born in Indonesia but joined up with Epigonentheater after her dance training in the Netherlands. She was the only member with a purely dance background, so, when she and Lauwers founded Needcompany in 1985, she became its choreographer. It was a haphazard turn of events that has led to an incredibly successful 25-year career as leading Belgian artists.

Needcompany’s work has always been extremely visual but, while they started with more performance arts, they have expanded over the years into music, film, and visual art installations. Their multimedia, multi-language Sad Face/Happy Face trilogy (Isabella’s Room, The Lobster Shop and The Deer House) is a legend in Belgium and beyond. Since the prizewinning Isabella’s Room premiered at the Avignon theatre festival in 2004, all three pieces have continuously been on tour throughout Europe.

In addition to original work, Needcompany has a long-standing relationship with Shakespeare, providing their own interpretations of plays such as King Lear, Julius Caesar and Macbeth.

Lauwers and Barkey have a specifically complementary relationship. While Lauwers focuses more on theatre and storytelling, Barkey works in movement and abstraction. But both work with the same ensemble that is Needcompany, and Barkey says that this is what really sets them apart in Belgium.

“We take good care of our dancers, and they stay with the ensemble for many years,” says Barkey. “I have worked with a lot of them for so long that I don’t even need to use many words anymore.”

Desperately optimistic

Barkey is loathe to discuss the future; her art is of the present. But not the present that we know or that we are living in. She specialises in alternate realities and imagination. Her work is not political, and it's not about current events.

“My pieces are worlds in themselves,” she says. “I present to the audience a different way of looking. Often on stage lots of things are happening at the same time, and the audience can be their own ‘camera’.” With This door is too small, she wanted a funny piece that would make people laugh. As the production developed, she jumped on each chance to bring humour into it.

The production revisits a few animal characters from previous Barkey work. The plot, to the extent that there is one, revolves around a bear who opens a laundromat; even as the laundromat is built, it falls apart and must be put together again. Barkey feels it is “desperately optimistic” and reflective of the human spirit. “You see Haiti, and the next thing you do is make dinner; there is this amazing energy that people have to go on living.”

She also continues her love affair with the absurd and the grotesque – two adjectives she often uses. While she has always thought of her work as grotesque – in its modern sense implying irregularity and incongruity – she was thrilled that this production includes the “grotesque” in its original mediaeval meaning – a fantastical decoration of intertwined figures of humans, animals and plants.

This latter grotesque can be seen as the backdrop to the upcoming production, as conceived by designer Lot Lemm. Barkey has worked with her on several productions to develop what she calls the "image" of a piece, which ties together the production values, from sets to costumes, in one scheme.

These two artists have spun off some of their work under the title Lemm&Barkey, collaborating on a variety of projects, from installations to performance. The visual emphasis is clear. A 2007 production, The Porcelain Project, was an installationcum- performance, using porcelain as sets, props and costumes, to stunning effect.

Barkey draws one further comparison to describe her work: poetry. “Poetry has a very strict form, but the meaning is not on the surface, it’s in between the lines,” she explains. “You read the content of the poem, but you aren’t really sure what it means; it’s like sand between your fingers. The next day, it means something different to you.”

Ask Barkey what the title This door is too small (for a bear) refers to, and she answers with a question – one I imagine she wants all her work to ask: "What does it make you think?" For Barkey, it all comes down to the power of the imagination. She speaks passionately of art’s importance as a vehicle to open our eyes to new ways of seeing and to encourage our own creative processes.

Needcompany tours internationally, maintaining strong ties with various theatres and institutions. But Belgium affords them an artistic freedom and sense of stability that Barkey finds unique. They have also found a receptive audience here and a vibrant community of fellow artists. This door is too small takes them back to Brussels’ Kaaitheater, a long-time collaborator.

Kaaitheater and Needcompany were both developing in the 1980s and the two linked up early on. In fact, “Needcompany was quite decisive in the artistic style that Kaaitheater stands for,” says Guy Gypens, Kaaitheater’s artistic director. “It was work that stood out as a real change of perspective in theatre, having to do with – amongst other things – the visual aspect of their productions.”

Gypens points to this quality as an influential factor in both the local and the international arts scene. While he sees a fluidity and logic in their performances, he is also aware that “they mix quite different registers – visual, physical and texts in multiple languages – that are not so easy to mix.”

www.needcompany.org

This door is too small
(for a bear)
25-27 February
Kaaitheater
Sainctelettesquare 20
Brussels
www.kaaitheater.be