1-11 ©Jorn Heijdenrijk
De Schrijver De Koning, with and after texts by Karl Valentin, a 90s offshoot of the theatrical evenings set up by the Belgian-Dutch repertory company De Vere (a collaboration between Discordia, STAN, and Dito’Dito), was the very first polycoproduction, a performance by and with Matthias de Koning and Damiaan De Schrijver. Several other polycoproductions have followed since, some of them together with de KOE and Dood Paard: My Dinner With André (1998), Vandeneedevandeschrijvervandekoningendiderot (2001), Onomatopee (2006), We hebben een/het boek(niet) gelezen (2008), and Beroemden (2012).
In the spring of 2017 Matthias de Koning, Damiaan De Schrijver, and Peter Van den Eede will present Atelier. After their study of the actor’s profession in Vandeneedevandeschrijvervandekoningendiderot they will now pick it up again in Atelier. Do theatre makers have a studio, just like sculptors and painters, a place where their ideas may or may not take shape, and if so, what does that studio look like? What type of work do we do, where and how and when and why? Is it work? How do we portray characters? What do we emphasise? Are we a display? Are we our own and each other’s model? Are we a self-portrait? Looking and being looked at, history, art, life as frames, mounts, edgings for the displays on the canvas of our skin. Rebuilding and then demolishing the fourth ‘walls’ in a bifrontal or quadrifrontal setting. A laboratory investigation into naturalism, realism, hyperrealism.
Large windows casting cold October light onto our innermost feelings. Wrapping up air. Sanding down wooden planks. Eating potatoes. Cooking mussels. Pissing beside the urinal. Writing a farewell letter. (being labelled) Removing an appendix. Sitting. Someone rings the bell. A door. A chink. A spot. A raft. Pitch-dark. A raft.
1-12 ©Jorn Heijdenrijk
In Dutch
by and with Matthias de Koning, Damiaan De Schrijver, Peter Van den Eede
production STAN, de KOE and Maatschappij Discordia
technique Bram De Vreese, Tim Wouters and Pol Geusens
costumes Elisabeth Michiels
special thanks to Steen en Been, Marlene De Smet
première March 15th, Théâtre Garonne, Toulouse
“The most mysterious thing about this strange ceremony, which resembles a barmy playtime but whose clockwork precision is essential, is that the time passes so quickly. Without a word. Without the audience understanding everything. Without them always being convinced. And without the actors themselves giving the impression they know where they are going! That is the Flemish genius at its best.”
Armelle Héliot, Le Figaro, 5 October 2018
“And did we dream it, or did we really see those three men conjure up fleeting images of chefs-d’oeuvre: Breugel’s line of blind men, David’s Marat in the bathtub, Magritte’s pipe, Marcel Duchamp’s urinal and so on and so forth? Are we to understand that man is simply chaos creating chaos, capable only of having the occasional perfect forms emerge, as if by accident?
Once again the Flemish collectives tg STAN, de KOE and Maatschappij Discordia have come up with an unconventional show of clockwork precision, which, behind its grotesque exterior, says as much as a play by Brecht…”
Jean-Luc Porquet, Le Canard Enchaîné, 10 October 2018
“The spectators laugh heartily, but they are also moved by this shambolic concoction of brilliant but simple ideas, staged so as to give us the chance to explore behind the scenes of the production, which is as magical as the production itself. And when the end comes, the spectators conclude that those three oddballs are very, very good. Because they are so intelligent without showing it. So magnanimous without flaunting it. And because they allow us share the jollity.”
Marie Plantin, Pariscope, 10 October 2018
2019
April
Sun 14.04.19 16:00
Comédie de Genève
Genève
Mon 15.04.19 19:30
Comédie de Genève
Genève
Tue 16.04.19 19:30
Comédie de Genève
Genève
Wed 17.04.19 19:30
Comédie de Genève
Genève
2018
February
Wed 28.02.18 20:30
Kaaitheater
Bruxelles
March
Thu 01.03.18 20:30
Kaaitheater
Bruxelles
Fri 02.03.18 20:30
Kaaitheater
Bruxelles
Sat 03.03.18 20:30
Kaaitheater
Bruxelles
Wed 07.03.18 20:30
CAMPO
Gent
Thu 08.03.18 20:30
CAMPO
Gent
Fri 09.03.18 20:30
CAMPO
Gent
Tue 13.03.18 20:00
Théâtre La Vignette
Montpellier
Wed 14.03.18 19:15
Théâtre La Vignette
Montpellier
Thu 15.03.18 20:00
Théâtre La Vignette
Montpellier
Fri 16.03.18 19:15
Théâtre La Vignette
Montpellier
Tue 20.03.18 20:30
Bois de l’Aune
Aix-en-Provence
Wed 21.03.18 19:30
Bois de l’Aune
Aix-en-Provence
Thu 22.03.18 19:30
Bois de l’Aune
Aix-en-Provence
Tue 27.03.18 20:00
La Rose des Vents
Villeneuve-d'Ascq
Wed 28.03.18 20:00
La Rose des Vents
Villeneuve-d'Ascq
Thu 29.03.18 19:00
La Rose des Vents
Villeneuve-d'Ascq
Fri 30.03.18 20:00
La Rose des Vents
Villeneuve-d'Ascq
september
Thu 27.09.18 20:30
La Scène Watteau
Nogent-sur-Marne
Fri 28.09.18 20:30
La Scène Watteau
Nogent-sur-Marne
october
Mon 01.10.18 20:00
Théâtre de la Bastille
Paris
Tue 02.10.18 20:00
Théâtre de la Bastille
Paris
Wed 03.10.18 20:00
Théâtre de la Bastille
Paris
Fri 05.10.18 20:00
Théâtre de la Bastille
Paris
Sat 06.10.18 20:00
Théâtre de la Bastille
Paris
Sun 07.10.18 17:00
Théâtre de la Bastille
Paris
Mon 08.10.18 20:00
Théâtre de la Bastille
Paris
Wed 10.10.18 20:00
Théâtre de la Bastille
Paris
Thu 11.10.18 20:00
Théâtre de la Bastille
Paris
Fri 12.10.18 20:00
Théâtre de la Bastille
Paris
Thu 18.10.18 20:00
Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (tempelgebouw)
Antwerpen
Fri 19.10.18 20:00
Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (tempelgebouw)
Antwerpen
Sat 20.10.18 20:00
Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (tempelgebouw)
Antwerpen
Sun 21.10.18 20:00
Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (tempelgebouw)
Antwerpen
Wed 24.10.18 20:00
Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (tempelgebouw)
Antwerpen
Thu 25.10.18 20:00
Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (tempelgebouw)
Antwerpen
Fri 26.10.18 20:00
Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (tempelgebouw)
Antwerpen
Sat 27.10.18 20:00
Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (tempelgebouw)
Antwerpen
2017
February
Wed 22.02.17 20:00
Balzaal DE HOE
Antwerpen
Thu 23.02.17 20:00
Balzaal DE HOE
Antwerpen
Fri 24.02.17 20:00
Balzaal DE HOE
Antwerpen
Sat 25.02.17 20:00
Balzaal DE HOE
Antwerpen
March
Fri 03.03.17 20:30
Frascati
Amsterdam
Sat 04.03.17 20:30
Frascati
Amsterdam
Thu 09.03.17 19:30
Toneelschuur
Haarlem
Fri 10.03.17 19:30
Toneelschuur
Haarlem
Sat 11.03.17 19:30
Toneelschuur
Haarlem
Wed 15.03.17 19:00
Théâtre Garonne
Toulouse
Thu 16.03.17 19:00
Théâtre Garonne
Toulouse
Fri 17.03.17 20:00
Théâtre Garonne
Toulouse
Sat 18.03.17 20:00
Théâtre Garonne
Toulouse