shakespeare is dead

contemporary
playwriting festival

February 22 — 26, Leuven

Shakespeare is dead is the very first playwriting festival in the Dutch language area. The festival aims to put our contemporary Dutch-speaking playwrights on the centre stage, not only for their own Dutch-speaking audience but also in a wider, international context. Read more...

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De staat van de jonge toneelschrijver

De staat van de jonge toneelschrijver

our generation is often seen as
a lost generation
we feel lost
or we have lost something
a kind of idealism or collectivity
but I have the feeling that we have
actually gained a lot
compared to previous generations
in insight
in consciousness and self-awareness
in modesty
and certainly in sensitivity

Read the State of the Young Playwright as delivered by Anouk Friedli on Friday 25 February at the first edition of Shakesepeare is dead, contemporary playwright festival.

 

Calendar

What is missing or how I met Foucault through a dating app - Vincent Doddema

In his search for the origin of his own speechlessness, Vincent Doddema initially has only a few old songs and a good dose of self-mockery at his disposal. But in the course of time, besides figures such as Karl Marx, Michel Foucault or Pierre Bourdieu, he also encounters characters from his own past: his great uncle, who gave his father Das Kapital, the Dutch-Calvinist grandmother or his German grandfather, whose right eye was left behind on the Eastern Front. (in Dutch)

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DAVID or how we changed our minds - de KOE, De Nwe Tijd & Hof van Eede

Three theatre companies create three performances about the figure and work of David Foster Wallace. The starting point is the author's biography, his addiction, genius, insecurity, depression and hyper-consciousness. The first part, DAVID or how we changed our minds, explores how to live a meaningful life, a life that is connected to others and to the world, so that you can at least reach your fiftieth birthday without shooting yourself in the head.

Performance in Dutch

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Staged Readings (Dutch selection)

Scenic reading of three plays from the Dutch selection, each time followed by a short discussion with the author. The texts will be read in English. On the occasion of the festival, the fragments read will also be translated into French and German.

Eric de Vroedt * The Nation
Bog (Lisa Verbelen, Sanne Vanderbruggen, Judith de Joode, Roos Euwe, Benjamin Moen) * MEN.
Freek Mariën * Wachten en andere heldendaden

English spoken

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Roundtable on starting as a playwright in Flanders

As a starting playwright in Flanders, you have to set up your own company to see your plays performed. In addition to the writing course at the Ritcs and the department of Word Art at the Antwerp Conservatory, there is finally a fully-fledged Writing for Performance course in Flanders at Luca Drama in Leuven. What obstacles do beginning playwrights run into when they want to start up a professional practice? The question becomes more pertinent now that, in addition to the writing course at the Rits and the department of Word Art at the Antwerp Conservatory, there is finally a fully-fledged Writing for Performance course in Flanders: what obstacles do beginning playwrights run into when they want to start up a professional practice? How do you get started? Where are the traps, where are the opportunities?

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Searchlight Sessions

With the Searchlight Sessions, Shakespeare is dead, Het nieuwstedelijk, Theater Bellevue, deBuren and SABAM are spotlighting unknown talent.

Meet the newest generation of playwrights. During the searchlight sessions, they will pitch their text and submit their questions to a professional audience of playwrights, dramatists, directors and companies.

Are you interested in getting to know them? And are you willing to give feedback? Then register now!

 

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Debate on intercultural transfers

Putting oneself in someone else's shoes is the essence of theatre. But appropriation and misrepresentation lie in wait. In the literary world, translations have become a tricky issue, just as interpretations are today in the theatre: who may translate what? Who can take on what role? In the international selection of Shakespeare is Dead, we present several plays from different countries and continents. We looked for the right translator for each play. But how do we represent the characters on stage? Can a play from China be performed in a Western theatre? How do we continue to make intercultural exchange possible?

English spoken

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Searchlight Sessions

With the Searchlight Sessions, Shakespeare is dead, Het nieuwstedelijk, Theater Bellevue, deBuren and SABAM are spotlighting unknown talent.

Meet the newest generation of playwrights. During the searchlight sessions, they will pitch their text and submit their questions to a professional audience of playwrights, dramatists, directors and companies.

Are you interested in getting to know them? And are you willing to give feedback? Then register now!

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Crash course in dramaturgy for actors, directors and viewers

During this WISPER course, we will take a closer look at two main questions within the field of dramaturgy. First, we look at the message: what do you want to communicate to your audience? How do you do that? How relevant is your message to today's world? And how does that translate to the form and content of your performance? Second, we look at coherence and discover various methods that can ensure that your piece becomes a coherent whole.

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Onderland - Dimitri Leue

In Flamont, everything revolves around the gold mine. Half the population works there and the other half facilitates the workers. The founder turned out not to be so founding. His legacy are sins. Between an ethical drama and a family tragedy, love, lightness and life weave themselves together. After the success of "Enough" (orginal title: Genoeg), Warre Borgmans, Dimitri Leue, Michael Pas and Alice Reijs join forces again to make a play together, this time together with Clara Cleymans. (in Dutch)

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Man in the mist - Het nieuwstedelijk

A dedicated entrepreneur has a dream. But then his business suddenly finds itself in stormy waters. Bankruptcy seems unavoidable. There is no other way out than to flee. 'Never before so many bankruptcies', read the headline of De Tijd about the first half of 2019. At that time, we did not know what was in store for us. As a result of the Covid crisis, a tsunami of bankruptcies is predicted for the coming years. As the son of self-employed entrepreneurs, theatre maker Christophe Aussems went in search of the people behind small and medium-sized companies that went bust.

Performance in Dutch with English surtitles.

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Creating theatre starting from contemporary themes

How do you make theatre starting from contemporary events, from interviews, from a theme that is currently relevant? How do you start, how do you define the boundaries and what are possible working methods? This WISPER workshop is an active quest in which we actively shape scenes together. This course is meant for everyone who is interested: actors, directors, teachers, theatre enthusiasts ... No previous experience is required. (in Dutch)

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Staged Readings (International selection)

Scenic reading of three plays from the international selection, each time followed by a short discussion with the author. We read the Dutch translation, but the version in the original language is also available.

Chelsea Woolley * Enormity, Girl, and the Earthquake in Her Lungs
Simona Semenic * We, the European corpses
Jasmine Lee-Jones * Seven Methods of killing Kylie Jenner

Dutch spoken, the texts are available in the original language (ENG + SLO)

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