The Four Friends

Since Narcissus, we know where the echo comes from, but can we also use mythology to explain why the heron migrates? Or why squirrels live in trees? Or why thunder comes after lightning? In De Vier Vrienden’s autoschediastic intervention, they have chosen their ideal setting: Greek & Roman mythology, with its well-known characters, locations, and story structures. They scrutinize the familiar tools and tropes, and use them to create, at long last, a new one.

Improvisational theater rarely takes itself seriously. With “New Mythology”, De Vier Vrienden sets out to raise the bar by improvising a full-production theater performance, complete with scenography, lighting & sound. 

De Vier Vrienden are an offshoot of Preparee, a student theater group in Leuven originally made up of Willem Nelissen, Jakob D’herde, Benjamin Torfs, and Simon Verlinden, but now extended with Eveline Van Raes and Lisa Lemmens. They are all young amateur artists involved in performance in all its forms, including improvisation, short-form comedy, and long-form drama. Having won the Dutch Student Theatre Championships in Enschede, they regularly perform in the Netherlands.