NEW SEASON 2024-2025

press officer
Sébastien Parizel | sebastien.parizel@kvs.be | +32 478 92 09 82

The Drums of War resound, also in the Theatre

KVS presents ambitious new season ’24-‘25:

Our world trembles on its foundations, the drums of war resound. We’re all feeling it, and it is frightening us. The feverish atmosphere is also felt on our stages and in our creations. At the same time, people seek connection, repair, catharsis, KVS artistic director Michael De Cock writes in his introduction to the KVS’s new programme – which will be presented on Monday 29 April. The 2024-25 season will be ambitious, with an impressive collection of in-house productions, internationally renowned work, and creators who will perform in Brussels for the first time.

Some of the highlights of this press release:

8 new in-house KVS creations by Lisaboa Houbrechts, Carolina Bianchi, Carme Portaceli, Lisette Ma Neza, Martha Balthazar, Jana De Kockere, Barbara T’Jonck and Mats Vandroogenbroeck, Carly Wijs, Eurudike De Beul and Scarlet Tummers, Michael De Cock and Junior Mthombeni, and Pitcho Womba Konga.
Important collaborations and platforms, including Mindblowers with VUB, Próximamente Festival with a focus on Latin America, WIPCOOP, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, and Congolisation.
Reflections on fear and how society dictates how we deal with fear, organised by Dina Dooreman, as well as on genocide, organised by Gerardo Salinas, in collaboration with Lisette Ma Neza and Omar Jabary.
A diverse programme with over 60 performances, bringing together the national and international arts scene, including dance, young creators and internationally renowned work, all in connection with our project at KVS.
Evolution of KVS towards an Apartheid Free Zone.

Ambitious in-house creations

In Hannibal, Michael De Cock and Junior Mthombeni give Purcell’s opera Dido & Aeneas a make-over, blending it with the story of Hannibal and the Punic Wars. The setting is very contemporary, and the music is created by, amongst others, Tsar B, Gala Dragot, Raphaële Green, Emma Posman, harpist Jutta Troch and Tom Kestens. Herfstsonate (Carly Wijs, Eurudike De Beul & Scarlet Tummers) homes in on the relation between a mother and daughter in an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece Autumn Sonata. Rustoord (Martha Balthazar, Jana De Kockere, Barbara T’Jonck, Mats Vandroogenbroeck) is documentary theatre that explores elderly care in Belgium. And Brussels city poet Lisette Ma Neza performs her poem The Weight of a Woman, a reflection on violence and what it does to someone’s life. In Liefde/Amour, Pitcho Womba Konga adapts the novel L’amour est très surestimé by French-Algerian writer Brigitte Giraud and wonders what role love can and is allowed to play in a human life. In Moeder Courage, shooting star Lisaboa Houbrechts directs French actress Loubna Azabal as one of the most iconic female characters in world repertoire. Bovary (Michael De Cock, Carme Portaceli) sets out in search of Emma Bovary’s soul in an opera adaptation of Flaubert’s seminal work, following the theatre piece to be seen in Paris next year, as well as Jaco Van Dormael’s award-winning film adaptation. And with The Cadela Força Trilogy, Chapter II: The Brotherhood, Carolina Bianchi continues her trilogy after the astonishing first part The Bride and the Goodnight Cinderella, which she created at KVS a few years ago. We are very proud to count this much-discussed artist among the KVS family and to direct her world premiere, which will premiere during the Kunstenfestivaldesarts 2025.

Hit creations return

Rexit! (Bruno Vanden Broecke, Valentijn Dhaenens and Vincent Stuer), R.I.S.A. (Jr.cE.sA.r), Ifigeneia (Maaike Neuville & Tessa Hall), It’s Like a Finger Pointing a Way to the Moon (Moya Michael) and In Love (Bahar Temiz & Charo Calvo).

A varied programme

In addition to its own creations, KVS brings plenty of household names and internationally renowned work to Brussels, in collaboration with our Brussels Partners Theatre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, La Monnaie, Kaaitheater and Kunstenfestivaldesarts. Internationally renowned choreographer Blanca Li presents her Dido & Aeneas, Koen Augustijnen & Rosalba Torres Guerrero perform Amours aveugles, based on two emblematic, doomed pairs of lovers: Orfeo ed Eurudice and Il Combattimento di Tancredi & Clorinda. Also coming to KVS: work by, amongst others, Dorothée Munyaneza, Tim Etchells, Carme Portaceli, FC Bergman, De Roovers, Jozef Wouters and Romy Louise Lauwers.

Young creators

Young creators also get their moment in the spotlight at KVS: Lieselot Siddiki & Nona Demey Gallagher with Up Your Ass (never before performed in Europe), Ferenc Balcaen, Jesse Vandamme and Ilyas Mettioui.

Dance lovers welcome

Dance lovers will once again get their fill at KVS this season. Ultima Vez presents new work with Void, Lisi Estaras’company Monkeymind creates the inclusive performance What We Can Do Together, KVS face Moya Michael reprises It’s Like a Finger Pointing a Way to the Moon, choreographer Marc Vanrunxt explores whether free form exists in Freie Form, and Voetvolk explores the overlap between drawing and dance in WASCO! (in collaboration with Bronks).

Collaborations and exchanges

National and international collaborations are of huge importance for KVS. This season sees the return of Próximamente, a platform for artists from Latin America and its Belgian diaspora. WIPCOOP once again offers a look at works in progress, and this year’s edition of Mindblowers in collaboration with VUB is all about silence.

Troika

Troika, the alliance between KVS, La Monnaie and Théâtre National de Wallonie-Bruxelles, keeps going strong, once again presenting a joint dance programme in our capital – an homage to Belgium’s multilingual, complex identity. Living proof of Troika’s strength is Bovary, a contemporary opera presented at Théâtre National, with the musical side arranged by La Monnaie and direction by KVS. In short, Brussels at its very best.

KVS heading towards Apartheid Free Zone

KVS has started a project aimed at becoming an Apartheid-Free Zone. This means the theatre is committed to saying NO to any form of discrimination, racism, violence, and infringement of human rights and international law. The initiative is a logical next step after earlier actions at KVS including Poets for Palestine, in which the theatre invited artists to raise their voices against atrocities in Israel and Palestine, and the roundtables by grassroots collective Artists4Palestine last November.

In practice, the AFZ campaign asks that organisations assess all the suppliers and external partners they work with, including cultural partnerships and sponsorships, financial supporters, and any other intersectionality. If any of these organisations turn out to be complicit in human rights infringements, the partnership is reassessed, and alternatives are explored. The current focus is on events in Gaza, but the project looks at the bigger picture too: the AFZ movement originated during Apartheid in South Africa.

KVS will be taking further steps as part of the initiative, including the creation of an internal workgroup that tracks progress. The emphasis is on evolution: an organisation can’t overhaul itself overnight, but we consider being part of this initiative an important first step.