Andromak is a story about blindness: blindness resulting from love, hate and revenge. The source of this blindness is the Trojan War, the mother of all wars. Peter and Luk Perceval have based their work on Racine’s play Andromaque. In their adaptation, language is reduced to what is strictly necessary and is mainly an expression of the body. Het Toneelhuis had great success with Andromak at the Festival d’Avignon in 2004. It is this French version we are presenting.

Why do people want children? The answer to this question is examined in short scenes and dialogues in Families Are Formed Through Copulation / La Famille se crée en copulant by PME. This Canadian group uses a mixture of disciplines in its performances and has a predilection for the awkwardness and complexity of communication. They see this ‘maladjustedness’ as one of the basic features of theatre as a medium. The work is based on group improvisation and is directed by the English-speaking Canadian Jacob Wren.

Grace Ellen Barkey is an actress, dancer, choreographer and director and works for Needcompany on a permanent basis. Since 1992 she has managed to build up a successful international career for herself with her own work. In her new production, Chunking, she constructs scenes from conscious and unconscious memories. Chunking also includes a choreography set to Sonic Youth’s song Kill Yr Idols.

At last you will be able to see the production Jan Decorte, Sigrid Vinks and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker presented at the 2005 Avignon Festival and for which Arno wrote the music. A masterpiece, wrote Jean-Marie Wynants in Le Soir, 'The work of an absolute poet who, without the slightest intellectualism, speaks directly to the people and all the beauty, truth, tenderness and horror they have in their lives.'

Jan Decorte was absent from the stage for slightly less than a year, but during that time wrote a great many plays, including the twin works & and "Burgaudine". & (and) is a visionary piece about Christ, Semira Adamu and the world. Decorte performs this play himself, in English. "Burgaudine" (French for mother-of-pearl) describes a world in which horror and beauty coincide. This play in French is danced and spoken by Sigrid Vinks.

Wayn Wash II: Jean-Baptiste is a continuation of Maria-Dolores in both form and content. ‘In the course of time film, theatre, music and art merge so perfectly together that they become true Gesamtkunst.’ (De Morgen)

Het Theaterfestival 2005 - In Deux voix (Twee stemmen in de Franse versie) gebruikt Jeroen Willems teksten van de Italiaanse schrijver en filmregisseur Pier Paolo Pasolini om hedendaagse leiders te portretteren die als een adderkluwen de maatschappij in hun greep houden en het onderscheid tussen het publieke en het private belang aan het oog weten te onttrekken. Grote prijs van het Theaterfestival 1997.

Het Theaterfestival 2005 - Isabella is old and blind when she looks back over her life. She lives in her room in Paris surrounded by hundreds of exotic objects plundered from Ancient Egypt and black Africa. Nine actors and dancers together reveal the secret of Isabella’s room. Conceived and directed by Jan Lauwers.

With Isabella’s Room, Needcompany scored an international hit; this summer will see the first night of the company’s new piece, The Lobster Shop, at Avignon. You can see it at the Kaaitheater next season, but there will also be try-outs before the summer.

In Le comeback de Jean-Baptiste Wayn Traub relates the life story of the mysterious French cabaret singer Jean-Baptiste, from foundling to world star. The performance is a theatrical symphony with four unusual soloists (Birdy Nam Nam is world champion in scratching), an acting conductor (Hervé Niquet) and two demonic narrators who support Jean-Baptiste in his first public appearance.