De Pauw (Engels) - depot voor het VTi

josse de pauw
De Pauw to follow the rehearsals of Brigitje as a coach. It is
notable that in theatre criticism and chronicles, De Pauw is only
sporadically mentioned alongside such companies as
Maatschappij Discordia (a loyal guest at Kaaitheater), Tg Stan
(Matthias De Koning was a supervisor of the company’s first productions
together with De Pauw), Cie De Koe and Dito’Dito.
Nevertheless, in Usurpation there was already close collaboration
with Mieke Verdin (now with Dito’Dito). De Pauw’s choice
of Frank Vercruyssen and Willy Thomas (Dito’Dito and often as
a guest at Tg Stan) for Het Kind van de Smid possibly says more
about the relationship between De Pauw’s artistic outlook and
that of other companies. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary
of Tg Stan in December 2000 and the associated festive programme
in which several ‘like-minded performers’ appeared, De
Pauw was also one of the invitees. He performed W.H. Auden’s
monologue Herodes, which contributed to the development of
Larf. The affinity (let’s call it a similar colour rather than an
explicit resemblance) is to be found primarily in a similar attitude
to acting and the speaking of lines. The actor’s performance is
transparent, and the person is clearly to be sensed behind the
character. An important element is ensemble work, in which the
actors’ pleasure in performing also remains palpable. Content
and language are the most important means of communicating
with each other and with the audience. Technical tours de force,
a superfluous set and any form of aesthetics that hinders direct
contact with the audience are avoided. Instead, space is given to
playful irony, rhythm and deliberate speech. At its heart is the
emancipated actor, who is himself responsible for what he wants
to tell. The absence of a real director (there usually isn’t one, at
most a coach/questioner) is closely connected to this. A great
many differences can also be pointed out, of course: De Pauw
likes to use a sort of sensual Flemish in which he cherishes every
word on his lips before he lets go of it. In contrast to the sharp,
rapid dialogues of Tg Stan and Cie De Koe, he gives us guarded,
meticulously timed speech whereby the poetry of the written
word also comes to the surface.
With Weg in 1998 and Larf in 2000, De Pauw received the
recognition as a performing artist that he deserved. The selection
of the first piece for the 1999 Dutch-Flemish Theatre Festival,
and the award, for both pieces, of the Océ Podium Prize in 2000,
are the most obvious expressions of acclaim. Several days after
54 / Kritisch Theater Lexicon - 14 e - August 2001
structural and artistic context
the prize was awarded, De Pauw said, ‘I received this prize for
my plays Weg and Larf, but I also see it as a crowning of my
career. I really had the feeling that everyone was pleased to see
me get it. I have quite often received unsightly little statues, but
money – real money – is after all the most solid proof of appreciation
one can get.’ 24 The publication of virtually all De Pauw’s
writing in the book Werk, extremely well received by the literary
critics, has also brought him much attention in 2000.
One reason why De Pauw has in the past been honoured for
his artistic work, but is seldom named on the list of recent theatre
innovators, is that he operates largely alone. Because he has
never had his own company, collective or theatre group, (except
for Radeis), he is more often seen as an individual in a changing
landscape. His recent appointment as artistic director of HetNet
in Bruges may change this. Just like Tom Jansen and Dirk
Roofthooft, De Pauw belongs to that group of actors in the Low
Countries who have acquired a respected position of their own
on the basis of their highly personal approach to and mastery of
the profession. Association with a company, a particular director
or a successful production is of secondary importance. To the
outside world, De Pauw is in the first instance a versatile artist
who writes, acts, makes films and plays, and all in a number of
semi-casual working relationships. The fact that, precisely as a
result of this position, he is constantly involved in the margins of
theatrical renewal (most clearly in internationalisation, multidisciplinarity
and the emancipation of the actor) usually goes unnoticed.
As an artist, De Pauw has never presented himself as an
innovator. He enthusiastically joins in the changes, or encourages
them, and then soon completely changes direction. Throughout
his twenty-year career, this artistic integrity, combined with the
authenticity of his story, has been the most important thread
recognised by critics, play-makers and audiences. The cancellation
of two productions (Wolf, planned for 1985, and De
vrouwen, for 1995) because proper collaboration could not be
guaranteed, only serves to reinforce this. De Pauw is seen in the
first place as an honest, independent and, above all, talented
artist. Someone who prefers searching to knowing, probing to
grasping and growing in the course of time to running in the
race. In his introduction to Cesare Pavese’s text in Etcetera – the
piece that is also quoted in the first programme book at HetNet
– Josse De Pauw ends his description of urban life with the fol-
55 / Kritisch Theater Lexicon - 14 e - August 2001