Needcompany, headed by Jan Lauwers and Grace Ellen Barkey, has now been creating avant-garde theatre of an international standard for 25 years. In order to shed some light on their unique working processes, they put on an annual presentation called Needlapb: a quite exceptional night to which a limited audience is invited.

There is a clear difference between the performances and the Needlapbs. In the performances the dramaturgical research that takes place during rehearsals congeals into a form that is as transparent as possible and ready for communication to the audience. Needlapb, on the other hand, is the uncongealed core of Needcompany, the place where the working process is fluid and dynamic and has not yet acquired a definite form.

A Needlapb is ‘an open thinking space with unlimited freedom’. A unique opportunity to take a look at the working process.

In spring 2009 Jan Lauwers wrote a new film script entitled Dead Deer Don’t Dance. Needlapb 16 is devoted entirely to this script. In Dogville, Lars Von Trier presented theatre on film, and now the Needcompany actors will be presenting a film in the theatre.