http://www.deroovers.be

After completing their studies at Antwerp Conservatory, Robby Cleiren, Sara De Bosschere, Luc Nuyens and Sofie Sente founded de Roovers in 1994. De Roovers is an ensemble of 4 actors/theatre-makers. For most of the productions the collective collaborates with the set designer photographer Stef Stessel. De Roovers opt for a small-scale organisational model, precisely so that they can focus all their attention on the content and artistic aspect of their work.

http://www.dekoe.be

De KOE was set up in 1989 by Peter Van den Eede and Bas Teeken. Since Teeken’s departure, Peter Van den Eede has been in charge. Today he works with a permanent core team of actor-creators whose members are Natali Broods, Stefaan Van Brabandt and Willem de Wulf.

http://www.toneelgroepceremonia.be

Toneelgroep Ceremonia is the brainchild of author and director Eric De Volder. Guided by the motto ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’, the group presents a repertoire that is characterized by a vivid use of dialect, vaudeville-like scenes and grotesque film techniques, and that deals with everyday themes and the unknown side of life.

De Vereniging van Enthousiasten voor het Reële en het Universele (The Association of Enthusiasts for the Real and the Universal) is a theatre collective consisting of Dirk Van Dijck, Ryszard Turbiasz and Johan Dehollander. The three met as actors in Needcompany’s production Need to know (1987).

http://www.lazarusvzw.be

Lazarus was set up in 2006, and its core members are Ryszard Turbiasz, Günther Lesage, Pieter Genard, Koen de Graeve and Joris Van den Brande. The foundations were laid at De Onderneming, an Antwerp collective, of which Turbiasz and Lesage were co-founders. In early 2006 De Onderneming split into two separate companies: Cie.Marius (Waas Gramser and Kris Van Trier) and the Lazarus collective.

http://www.abattoirferme.be

Abattoir Fermé is a theatre collective whose activities centre upon a fascination for outsider art, the underground and ‘all things deviant’: seeking out new themes, dramaturgies and theatre forms.

Abattoir Fermé’s performances are often based on eccentric characters, dissidents, science fiction writers and countercultural voices. The company’s visual aesthetic is rich in imagery, with a grotesque or escapist tint. They modify, sample and contextualize influences from cinema, documentary, journalism, psychiatry, outsider art and comic books.

http://www.compagnie-cecilia.be/

Compagnie Cecilia was founded in 2006 by Johan Heldenbergh, Marijke Pinoy and Arne Sierens. These three theatre-makers had previously worked together in various set-ups over a period of 10 years. Johan Heldenbergh performed in Arne Sierens’ production Mijn Blackie (1998), which forms the first reference point. Heldenbergh and Marijke Pinoy worked together intensively with Theater Zuidpool. Both performed in several productions by Arne Sierens, who previously worked at various theatre companies, including Dastheater.

http://www.needcompany.org

Jan Lauwers founded Needcompany together with Grace Ellen Barkey. They together are responsible for Needcompany larger-scale productions. The group of performers Jan Lauwers and Grace Ellen Barkey have put together over the years is quite unique in its versatility. Their associated artists are MaisonDahlBonnema (Hans Petter Dahl & Anna Sophia Bonnema), Lemm&Barkey (Lot Lemm & Grace Ellen Barkey), OHNO Cooperation (Maarten Seghers & Jan Lauwers) and the NC ensemble, which includes the inimitable Viviane De Muynck.

http://www.dequeeste.be

De Queeste Theatre Makers’ Group was set up at the Maastricht Stage Academy in 1997, when several Flemish students embarked upon a joint venture that was to prove both unusual and intense. After nearly 10 years of working on a project-by-project basis, De Queeste was awarded an operating subsidy by the Flemish Community in 2006. A year later, the organisation took another important step when it merged with the TOR workshop. This enabled De Queeste to transform itself from a theatre-makers’ group into a theatre-makers’ company.

http://www.baff.be

BAFF aims to make contemporary, metropolitan theatre on the basis of a European context and sense of identity. Its work alternates between original creations and existing plays and both domestic and international productions. The company aims to break new ground and tackle ‘the classics’ based on the belief that classic works form the necessary foundations upon which it can build. An important pillar in the new regime at the former Raamtheater is its collaboration with the Ghent theatre group Nunc. This collaboration was visible in the production Het Geslacht Borgia.