Open season
Under the Volcano, based on British novelist Malcolm Lowry’s 1940s masterpiece, is a trademark Guy Cassiers adaptation combining literature and video installation. Josse de Pauw is awe-inspiring as Geoffrey Firmin, a British consul in Mexico whose world starts to crumble after a disastrous love affair and one too many mezcals. Love, booze and sublime performances share centre stage with original footage shot in Mexico. Running now in Antwerp
A typically mind-blowing programme awaits at Toneelhuis
Olympique Dramatique will combine noise, pathos and cruelty in their adaptation of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. This seriously alternative performance will shock and amaze, which is generally the best way to describe most of what this company does. The bard’s most horrific play like you’ve never seen it before. Premieres in Brussels on 6 November
Fear of the unknown and a little audience participation are the key elements in De Filmfabriek’s makeover of Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck’s one-act play The Intruder. This performance thrives on its threatening atmosphere combined with a truly bizarre tale and Peter Missotten’s distinctive installations. Premieres in March, 2010
Bart Meuleman collaborates with Olympique Dramatique for In the Penal Colony, inspired by Franz Kafka’s short story about an exquisite death trap. By deconstructing this multilayered and politically-charged story, Meuleman gets the chance to prove that he is an exceptional addition to Het Toneelhuis. Premieres in April, 2010
One of the most anticipated events of this season, however, is without a doubt the first part of Cassiers’ adaptation of Austrian author Robert Musil’s The Man Without Qualities. Ulrich, played by long-time television and stage actor Vic de Wachter, is the title character in this epic political satire set in 1913 Vienna, seasoned with a dash of romance. Premieres in June, 2010
