Thanks for Being Here

In an exploration of different points of view, different backgrounds, and different lives, the Belgian theater performance group Ontroerend Goed puts the audience at the core of their new performance. 　　Everyone inhabits their own here and now, composed by their past, their personal experiences and their expectations. Using video, director Alexander Devriendt creates different spatial perspectives, revealing how we—often inevitably—take our individual beliefs and backgrounds as the measure of things. At the same time, the company plays with time, slowing it down, speeding it up, rewinding. The auditorium becomes an echo chamber. 　　The trademark of Ontroerend Goed—the winners of numerous awards at festivals in Europe, Australia and North America—is the theatrical mind game. Time and again, they break the so-called contract between performer and spectator—one on stage, the other sitting safely in the dark. The audience is put on display, manipulated and misled, often with a political slant. This is also the case in the innovative and exciting Thanks for Being Here, the most recent production by this unpredictable company.