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cover: © Phile Deprez

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DEAR READER,

#CREATEYOUROWNCLASSICS GOOD TO KNOW ★★ All our own productions are surtitled in ­English. ★★ Our #globalensemble is made up of more than 25 artists from every possible cultural background, professionals and amateurs. ★★ We have our own costume and scenic art departments.

As globalization continues to impact the world and make it ever smaller, many people feel a growing nostalgia for borders, a desire to return to the past. Theatre is always local and live, it is a repetition and re-enactment of what has been. But above all it is a place of experimentation for the future.

IT IS NOT ABOUT PORTRAYING THE WORLD, BUT ABOUT CHANGING IT. (Ghent Manifesto)

A year ago we promised: “Ghent will be everywhere and everybody will be in Ghent.” And that is exactly what happened. In our first season, our productions toured through five continents, from Taiwan to the Netherlands.

We welcomed 40,000 spectators to our own theatre (and a multiple of this on tour), achieving an average seat occupancy of over 80% – a record!

Journalists from newspapers like Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung, The Guardian and The New York Times were astonished by our productions.

“NTGent is making Ghent the centre of Europe,” wrote a Swiss critic at the end of last season. A British critic added: “Ghent may well be the place to watch and learn from in years to come as they produce and present challenging, relentlessly inquisitive plays for the community, plays that face up to their country’s past.”

“NTGENT IS MAKING GHENT THE CENTRE OF EUROPE.”(NZZ) Critics’ polls in several countries such as Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the USA have rated our productions ‘the best of the year’. The Ghent Manifesto was debated as far afield as in China, Brazil and Russia. When Orestes in Mosul was staged in Germany, a critic wrote: “NTGent is as influential for contemporary theatre as Lars von Trier’s dogma films were for film.”

Likewise, during the 2019-20 season we are making new diverse classics for a new age. Because if the world is a village, then every village can become the whole world. The theatre we make aspires to be universal, but every voice in it is individual. Though we are all different, we are solidary.

No matter who we are, the stage is always the same.

I want to thank everyone at NTGent, all members of our global ensemble and audiences everywhere for embarking on this adventure.

MILO RAU

© Michiel Devijver

THE CITY THEATRE OF THE FUTURE As the city theatre of Ghent, NTGent aims to question, motivate, activate and energize a diverse public. We do this by making thought-provoking productions and using theatre to spark social debate. In our auditoria we not only present stage plays, which tour internationally, we also organize debates and masterclasses as part of our political engagement. Our ambition is to be an open house that is accessible to everyone.

We make our stage plays together. Together with all parties concerned. And together with the public, shaping our relationship through constant interaction with the community. We are always on the lookout for new classics, for the tragedies and the fields of tension representative of today’s world. We mythologize the topical, and make mythology topical in a bid to fashion a political, mobile and creative ‘city theatre of the future’.

A musical invitation to the season presentation

Milo Rau addressing the audience at the 19-20 season’s presentation

© Michiel Devijver

© Michiel Devijver

Lam Gods / The Ghent Altarpiece – Milo Rau

© Michiel Devijver

Balcony Project: European Republic proclaimed from balcony of theatre

© Michiel Devijver

NTGent Café

© Fred Debrock

Orestes in Mosul – Milo Rau

© Birgit Hupfeld

The Living – Ersan Mondtag

© Agathe Poupeney

Histoire(s) du Théâtre II – Faustin Linyekula

© Michiel Devijver

Histoire(s) du Théâtre I. La Reprise – Milo Rau

Š Michiel Devijver

Faustin Linyekula at Heritage of the Future – debate

© Michiel Devijver

© Francis Vanhee

Season presentation

Ghost Writer and the Broken Hand Break – Miet Warlop

© Michiel Devijver

© Reinout Hiel

Compassion – Milo Rau

© Michiel Devijver

Black – Luk Perceval

Š Michiel Devijver

Milo Rau addresses a real family for Familie

Public at NTGent Schouwburg

OUR PRODUCTIONS

© Michiel Devijver

PREMIERES 2018-19 LA REPRISE. HISTOIRE(S) DU THÉÂTRE I

GHOST WRITER AND THE BROKEN HAND BREAK

MILO RAU

MIET WARLOP

The torture and murder of Muslim This combination of swirling dance, and homosexual Ihsane Jarfi in recital and concert is an experiment Liège leaves the city in shock. Milo about the fine line between Rau reconstructs the crime on stage. maintaining and losing control.

“A new masterpiece.”

La Libre Belgique, Guy Duplat, 07.05.2018

Theatre workshop at NTGent Minnemeers

“One of the best performances of the year.”

“However you look at it, Miet Warlop will immediately change your perspective.”

De Morgen, Jan Dertaelen, 01.10.2018

“Sometimes you see a performance that reminds “The sensation of the Avignon you of what you miss in so Festival. One of the best many other performances: theatre performances of something happens, 2018.” something is created that The New York Times, Laura Cappelle, makes your heart beat faster.”

France Inter, Laurent Goumarre, 26.12.2018

© Michiel Devijver

20.12.2018

Theaterkrant, Evelyne Coussens, 09.10.2018

LAM GODS MILO RAU The Ghent Altarpiece, a medieval masterpiece by the Van Eyck brothers, comes to life on stage, providing a panoramic view of our modern-day world. A ballad for the ordinary man.

“An instant classic.”

De Standaard, Filip Tielens, 01.10.2018

“Milo Rau hits a masterful homerun.”

Le Soir, Cathérine Makereel, 01.10.2018

“Artistically powerful, politically shrewd...”

The Guardian, Laura Cappelle, 08.10.2018

“A magnificent idea: to bring together in one night, a perfect multi-coloured mix of citizens of the city around a cultural identity-forming centrepiece of the city – all the while thinking about, as an artist , what is depictable, what are the limits, and wether mere depiction is enough to change the world.”

Nachtkritik, Dorothea Marcus, 28.09.2018

COMPASSIE MILO RAU In Compassion. The History of the Machine Gun, director Milo Rau travels to political hotspots like Mediterranean refugee camps and Congolese civil war zones. Is there a limit to our compassion? Is there a limit to the so-called “European humanism”?

“Good theatre is not always pleasant to watch.”

De Morgen, Ewoud Ceulemans, 07.10.2018

“In Compassie director Milo Rau puts our thinking about humanitarian disasters on edge.”

NRC, Ron Rijghart, 24.10.2018

BLACK. THE SORROWS OF BELGIUM I: CONGO LUK PERCEVAL In Black director Luk Perceval uses the report of the Afro-American missionary William Henry Sheppard, which exposed the exploitation of the Congo Free State around 1900.

“A much needed slap in the face.”

De Morgen, Ewoud Ceulemans, 18.03.2019

“In a jungle of hanging robes and with live music by the outstanding drummer and guitar player Sam Gysel, Luk Perceval unearths the worst shadows of our colonial past.

Black is a necessary slap, created by NTGent.”

Focus/LeVif, Estelle Spoto, 02.04.2019

“A polyphony of voices and perspectives. Add to that the exhilarating live music and the physically very intense acting, and you get a sizzling Gesamtkunstwerk.”

De Standaard, Filip Tielens, 20.03.2019

DE LIVING ERSAN MONDTAG Ersan Mondtag directs Doris and Nathalie Bokongo Nkumu (les Mybalés), who depict the last hour of a woman’s life. Or is it?

“De Living gnaws at the stomach and makes one ask questions.”

Le Suricate, Luna Luz Deshayes, 01.06.2019

“De Living is blinding and intriguing.”

De Tijd, Thomas Peeters, 18.05.2019

ORESTES IN MOSUL MILO RAU How can the downward spiral of violence be broken? Milo Rau and his international team set off for the north of Iraq, where ISIS had proclaimed a caliphate.

“Orestes in Mosul cannot be measured along known aesthetical criteria.

This theatre project is megalomaniacal and magnificent from the start. (...) Theatre that reaches far beyond.”

Wiener Zeitung, Petra Paterno, 07.06.2019

“A masterpiece! A masterpiece! I went back to see it twice.”

Otocoto, Datum Natsume, 08.05.2019

“From this great ambitious show we retain the powerful, visionary, uncompromising reflection on our time, based on ancient myths. And the narrative quality, for which Milo Rau is known, for juggling time and space and relying on remarkable professional, as well as amateur, actors.”

RTBF, Christian Jade, 11.05.2019

“Casting someone who knows what it means to make moral compromises as Orestes’ ultimate arbiter, hammers home how thorny questions of clemency and justice are in a city that has seen so much suffering.”

The New York Times, A. J. Goldmann, 07.06.2019

OUR PRODUCTIONS

PREMIERES 2019-20 WIE IS BANG KOEN DE SUTTER & TOM LANOYE Who’s afraid, a new stage play by Tom Lanoye, one of Flanders’ most celebrated authors and a regular at all the major European theatre festivals. Two older, white actors find themselves confronted with two young actors of foreign descent.

ANATOMIE VAN PIJN LIES PAUWELS An Anatomy of Pain as a lonely experiment, as a demon or as liberation. Lies Pauwels (The Hamiltoncomplex) directs a cast of chronic pain patients and professional performers.

RIJGEN

FAMILIE

SARAH MOEREMANS & JOACHIM ROBBRECHT

MILO RAU

Based on Arthur Schnitzler’s famous and controversial Reigen, this text visits the dark corners of lust and love in our time.

In 2007, a family hangs itself in Calais, France. Why does a family commit suicide?

A real family stages this most incredible act – and tells their own stories about love, loneliness and death.

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EPIPHANY MUNGU CORNELIS & DALILLA HERMANS He was abandoned, handed over and given away to a couple on the other side of the world. On another continent. A performance about identity, adoption, family, parenthood and love.

HISTOIRE(S) DU THEATRE II FAUSTIN LINYEKULA The world-famous Congolese choreographer and director Faustin Linyekula on establishing the National Ballet, a key moment in the history of Congolese dance. After the world première at the Avignon Festival (July 2019), this production finally comes “home” to Ghent.

YELLOW. THE SORROWS OF BELGIUM II: REX

IN 2020, GHENT IS HONOURING ITS GREATEST FLEMISH MASTER

LUK PERCEVAL Luk Perceval’s trilogy The Sorrows of Belgium revisits three dark episodes in Belgium’s history. In Yellow he looks back at the rise of fascism and the collaboration with the Nazis during the Second World War.

HET NARRENSCHIP MONSTER TRUCK A new take on the medieval tradition of The Ship of Fools: people with special needs take the public with them on a journey along Ghent’s streets and canals.

When you say Ghent, you think Ghent Altarpiece. After all, the two are inextricably linked. Ghent is the city where Van Eyck painted his world-famous masterpiece and where for the past six centuries, millions of visitors have gathered from all over the world to admire the altarpiece.

During the entire year of 2020, Ghent will be hosting OMG! Van Eyck was here, paying homage to Jan Van Eyck Visual arts, theatre, dance, design, fashion, gastronomy, music and even shopping... For a whole year, everything in the city will be a nod to Van Eyck and his impressive masterpiece with 2 highlights: ★★ From february to the end of April, the Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) pays tribute to Jan van Eyck with the exhibition Van Eyck. An optical revolution. Worldwide only approximately twenty works by this artist have been preserved. On this exceptional occasion, a substantial amount of these will travel to Ghent, where they will be shown alongside works by his most talented peers. ★★ In June 2020, a brand-new visitors’ centre will open its doors at St Bavo's Cathedral. It will host the restored panels of the Ghent Altarpiece and a collection of other authentic and grand art treasures.

MORE INFO www.omgvaneyckwashere.com

FACEBOOK @OMGVanEyckWasHere

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MILO RAU Reviewers have described him as Milo Rau during rehearsals in Mosul the “most influentialâ€? (Die Zeit), “most celebratedâ€?(Le Soir) “most interestingâ€? (De Standaard) and “most ambitiousâ€? (The Guardian) artist of our time. The Swiss director and author Milo Rau (°1977) has been NTGent’s artistic director since the 2018-19 season.  For Milo Rau and his team it is not about portraying the world on stage, but about changing the world. Frames of reference are called into question, judgements and preconceived ideas demo­ lished. There was, for example, his Five Easy Pieces performed by children, which was based on the Dutroux affair that traumatized ­Belgium. And The Last Days of the Ceausescus, about the dictators’ trial and execution in Bucharest in 1989. The Moscow Trials, about the show trial of Pussy Riot, were stormed by the Cossacks and resulted in a travel ban for Milo Rau to Russia. It was to make these productions that he founded the International Institute for Political Murder in Berlin in 2007.

A writer and director since 2002, Milo Rau now has a tally of more than 50 plays, films, books and actions to his name. His productions have been staged at all the large international festivals, including the Berliner Theatertreffen, the Edinburgh Festival, the Festival d'Avignon, the Biennale Teatro Venice, the Wiener Festwochen and the Kunstenfestivaldesarts, and they have toured more than 30 counties worldwide.

Internationally he has won all kinds of awards. In 2016 he was the youngest artist ever after Frank Castorf and Pina Bausch to receive the prestigious World Theatre Day ITI prize. Prizes won in 2017 include the Peter Weiss Prize, the 3sat Prize and the Saarbrucken Poetry Lectureship for Drama, while critics named him Acting Director of the Year in a poll organized by Die Deutsche Bßhne magazine. Other accolades include the European Theatre Prize in 2018. In 2019, he was the recipient of the French Critic’s prize for La Reprise and he was awarded the first honorary doctorate by the Theatre department at the University of Lund (Sweden).

GHENT, A MUST SEE ‘Despite being one of Belgium’s oldest cities, Ghent remains small enough to feel cosy but big enough to be a vibrant, relevant centre for trade and culture. There’s a wealth of medieval and classical architecture here, contrasted by large post-industrial areas undergoing urban renewal that give Ghent a gritty-but-good industrial feel. Europe’s best kept secret and a must see destination.’ (The Lonely Planet)

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OUR THEATRES

GHENT MANIFESTO

NTGent boasts three theatres in the heart of the medieval city of Ghent, Belgium.

NTGENT SCHOUWBURG Our main theatre is located on Sint-Baafsplein, alongside the Cathedral, the Belfry and the Town Hall. The nineteenth-century building has a magnificent auditorium à l’italienne with 600 red plush seats and gilt balconies. It is famed for its excellent acoustics. The fly tower was renewed in 2018. The NTGent Café has a sunny terrace where lunch is served.

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NTGENT ARCA An intimate, 208-seat auditorium and an enchanting foyer with a view of the Castle of the Counts/ Time Castle.

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It’s not just about portraying the world anymore. It’s about changing it. The aim is not to depict the real, but to make the representation itself real.

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Theatre is not a product, it is a production process. Research, castings, rehearsals and related debates must be publicly accessible.

Three The authorship is entirely up to those involved in the rehearsals and the performance, whatever their function may be – and to no one else.

Four

The literal adaptation of classics on stage is forbidden. If a source text – whether book, film or play – is used at the outset of the project, it may only represent up to 20 per cent of the final performance time.

Five

At least a quarter of the rehearsal time must take place outside a theatre. A theatre space is any space in which a play has been rehearsed or performed.

Six

At least two different languages must be spoken on stage in each production.

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NTGENT MINNEMEERS A multifunctional black box theatre, Minnemeers adapts easily to the requirements of specific ­projects. From the foyer you overlook the river Leie.

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Seven At least two of the actors on stage must not be professional actors.

Animals don’t count, but they are welcome.

Eight The total volume of the stage set must not exceed 20 cubic metres, i.e. it must be able to be contained in a van that can be driven with a normal driving licence.

Nine At least one production per season must be rehearsed or performed in a conflict or war zone, without any cultural infrastructure.

Ten

Each production must be shown in at least ten locations in at least three countries. No production can be removed from the NTGent repertoire before this number has been reached.

Ghent, 1 May, 2018