T H E D U T C H O N T O U R - Theater Instituut Nederland
T H E D U T C H O N T O U R - Theater Instituut Nederland
T H E D U T C H O N T O U R - Theater Instituut Nederland
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Language<br />
English<br />
Contact<br />
Artistic director: Liesbeth Gritter (director) and<br />
Mette van der Sijs (dramaturge)<br />
T +31 (0)20-6949933<br />
E info@kassys.nl<br />
I www.kassys.nl<br />
Agency: for the United States: Multi Arts Projects<br />
Productions, NY, www.multiartsprojects.com<br />
Disenchanting<br />
Kassys<br />
‘leering theatre’<br />
Kassys was founded in 1999 by Liesbeth Gritter and Mette van der Sijs. Their differing backgrounds<br />
in expressive art and dance have allowed them to develop a perceptive, detailed,<br />
familiar and confrontational pictography. Most of their productions combine theatre and film<br />
and can best be described as ‘leering theatre’.<br />
The shows produced by Kassys are about human (group) behaviour and manipulation. Kassys<br />
uses the conventions of the theatre to confront a group of good-natured people (the audience)<br />
with themselves, or with their species at the very least. The company deliberately plays with<br />
mood and expectations of the people watching. Kassys sees the audience as a character, who<br />
wilfully lets himself be directed.<br />
With a large dose of self-mockery, the company exposes the hidden messages in human<br />
communication. Disenchanting and sometimes hilariously recognizable, the beauty of human<br />
success and failure is revealed for all to see. This is accomplished with a minimum of words and<br />
using distinctive body language, but without distractions and superfluous extras like storylines,<br />
fictional figures and caricatural acting. The performances do not work towards an (expected)<br />
dramatic climax, but provide a profusion of drama shrouded in subdued excitement.<br />
International<br />
Kassys took Kommer to Belgium, Germany, France and the United States. Liga and Good<br />
cop bad cop will also go on international tour. The productions received good reviews in the<br />
international press. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote: ‘Art doesn’t just mirror life in Kommer.<br />
Each refracts and reflects upon the other in facets that continue to engage the mind and make<br />
one hope that this won’t be the last we’ll see of Kassys’.<br />
Liga<br />
Photo: AX710<br />
The Dutch on tour Physical, site-specific and object theatre<br />
33
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