Concise.pdf - Brugge Plus

Performing arts
In performing arts, too, Brugge 2002 provided for a diverse and yet very distinctive range of
dance, theatre, new media and “performance”. We deliberately opted for innovation and for
works that had not been put on before. New creations took precedence over existing pieces,
although all of the latter were also new to the Bruges stage. Playing on a current trend and a
desire on the part of many performing artists and directors, the programmes often transcended
disciplines and combined speech, dance and music. Performances were given in various
locations; in rooms technically fitted out as theatre halls and in more unexpected places.
Innovators and trend-setters
One of the most striking projects was undoubtedly Dogtroep in the Bruges prison. The
Dutch theatre company Dogtroep is renowned for its non-traditional approach. For
four weeks the actors and theatre makers let themselves be locked up in the prison
in order to prepare a performance with the detainees, in which nobody knew who
were the prisoners and who were the actors. The life and stories of the detainees and
the potent creative experience of Dogtroep resulted in a work that made a lasting
impression. All the component aspects of this project – the preparation, creation,
presentation, and the close consultation with the Ministry of Justice and the prison’s
administration – made it an unforgettable event, which remains clearly etched in the
collective memory of the Cultural Capital Year.
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CONCISE
Another project that left a lasting impression was the radical version of Shakespeare’s
King Lear staged by Luc Perceval and Het Toneelhuis, and co-produced with BRUGGE
2002, Schauspielhannover and Schauspielhaus Zürich. L. King of Pain left only the
L. of Lear in place, to tell a story about irrevocable decline, power leading to tenebrosity
and a body going to seed. A surprising aspect was the language that was spoken:
a specially developed artificial language – not Dutch, not German, but nonetheless
understandable through its expression.
Equally elevating was the new production SS by Josse De Pauw and Tom Jansen, produced
by Het Net. The production was based on the book De SS’ers (“The SS members”),
written in the nineteen sixties, in which the artist Armando and the journalist
Hans Sleutelaar interviewed eight anonymous
Dutchmen who chose the side of the Germans in
the Second World War. In the production a number
of these monologues are staged in a combination
of theatre, dance, choral singing and film.
The public interest in this piece was so great that
an extra performance was scheduled.
© JAN TERMONT & DIRK VAN DER BORGHT
Josse De Pauw is one of the artists who came to
Bruges on the occasion of BRUGGE 2002 in order
to do some creative work there. He became artistic
director of Het Net and launched the series
Sproken (Tales), special evenings hosted by him,
Restoration work
in which he invited young artists or artist friends
to simply “do something” on the Het Net stage.
In 2002, to mark its fifteenth anniversary, Needcompany made Images of Affection -
affection rendered in images. This cool production symbolised the search for boundaries
in presenting theatre and the business of dealing with the vulnerability of theatre
and image language. We also found this ambition reflected in many other programmes.