Jan Lauwers – trained as a painter, founder of theatre groups, director, actor, author, set designer and, in his latest production, which premiered at the Ruhrtriennale, also compère and musician onstage – is himself the personification of interdisciplinary theatre. And the same thing applies to his ‘Needcompany’, with an international cast who act, dance and sing – and all in the most varied styles and of an impressively high standard. Marketplace 76 is the title of this company’s latest production; a company whose performances at leading art and theatre festivals over the last twenty years has made it synonymous with theatrical crossover. One of the themes in Jan Lauwers’ work has always been the question of the forms and possibilities of a society, and the tension between the individual and society. Marketplace 76 observes the relationships within a village community that have been made extremely close by shared traumatic experiences. An explosion took place on the marketplace and the victims included a whole class of schoolchildren. The devastated parents, the helpless neighbours, the people who rightly or wrongly blame themselves for this catastrophe, are fatally entangled in a confused pattern of mourning, guilt, distrust, repression and discrimination. Then, when a paedophile abducts a girl and imprisons her for 76 days, the emotions they have not yet dealt with combine with the feelings of outrage, hate and vengeance towards this negative figure. The situation becomes explosive. Jan Lauwers and his Needcompany tell this dark story with the aid of every means theatre has at its disposal: there are dramatic situations and epic pronouncements, while songs and choral passages provide a lyrical element. The alienation effect that we are familiar with in Brecht is employed, with actors step out of character and staged technical problems. Video, puppetry, and of course, dance, mime and performance are all brought to the stage. And this broad spectrum of theatrical tools leads to equally varied reactions from the audience. Emotions, analytical observation, fun with wordplay, theatrical irony, peals of laughter – Jan Lauwers and the incredibly versatile Needcompany players prove that all this can be seen in one play and even almost simultaneously.