After the success of Billy's Violence, the desire to continue this intense tale was so strong amongst the artistic team, cast and crew that it has led to a sequel: Billy’s Joy. Once again, Victor Lauwers turns his hand to reworking Shakespeare’s plays and see what they can still mean in our time - a time of great controversies, vulgar polemics, cancel culture, structural racism, climate change, war. What is there left to laugh at? Is humour the coward's weapon or a form of activism?
The libretto 'Lee Miller in Hitlers Bathtub' is a portrait of a woman who at the end of her life said that she felt like a cow who had been milked dry. A woman in the shadow of many men. Famous men. Notorious men. Jan Lauwers wanted to make a portrait that was no longer that of Lee but of so many women in the history of art who have been gagged. And then there is this one photo: 'Lee in Hitler’s bathtub' What does it mean for Lee that she chose to
take a bath in the monster’s bathtub? What does it mean moreover to let her photo be
taken there? The text begins at the moment when Lee Miller stands in
front of Hitler’s bathtub in her stinking clothes, which still reek of the corpse smells from
Dachau.
For the new performance ‘The garden of earthly disquiet’, Grace Tjang goes back to the cruelty of her family stories. Bringing the violence of the night alive together with five performers. Grace Tjang tells the dark stories of traumatic nights - an obscure and mysterious world full of restlessness and fears.
A Sublime Mistake — played by Gonzalo Cunill — is based on all the slightly lost male characters in Jan Lauwers’ oeuvre. An intimate portrait of a man who looks at the world in astonishment and fails to understand why he is even part of it.
NEEDCOMPANY’S SUMMER WORKSHOP 2025
– HOW TO COUNT TO 4 AT 120 BEATS PER MINUTE
(2-7/07/2025)
Needcompany opens the doors of its studio – MILL – for a three-day summer workshop. This masterclass aims to provoke meaningful encounters with and between new generations of performing artists.
Are you a professional performer who wants to explore musicality and movement? Apply by 30/05/2025!
Nekkersdal and Needcompany join forces for the second time this year. Led by artist Einat Tuchman, the first Karaoke Debate will be held on Wednesday 30 April 2025.
Five talented young people from Molenbeek invite you to sing along to songs they have written themselves. Each song is followed by a debate on the strengths and weaknesses of society. Come and collaboratively imagine the future for social justice.
Care to waltz through Shakespeare’s tragedies and comedies in a single evening? Needcompany has the pleasure to announce the Double Billy (Billy’s Violence & Billy’s Joy) at 30cc, Leuven. Following two sold-out editions at Impulstanz 2023 (Vienna) and Festival Grec 2024 (Barcelona), this once in a lifetime diptych is being performed in Belgium for the first time.
After Leuven, this double bill goes to Toplocentrala, Sofia!
26/02/2025 (30cc, Louvain) – [Buy your tickets here ici]
05/03/2025 & 07/03/2025 (Toplocentrala, Sofia) – [Buy your tickets here ici]
Double Minutes is a nomadic project that reimagines the format of an artist talk. In each edition, two artists are invited to share the peculiarities and inspirations that shape their practices. At the same time, they are encouraged to experiment with the scenographic, performative, and collaborative possibilities of such kind of presentation. The result is a series of live events that foster artistic discourse and the dynamic interaction between diverse practices.
For the 14th edition of Double Minutes artists Marlie Mul and Anina Müller are invited.
03/02/2025 at MILL
Doors : 20h00 | start: 20h30
Entrance : 2 - 5 - 10 euros (cash)
May 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22 May | Between Two Lights co-production | Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam NL) Premiere | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 May | Between Two Lights co-production | Concertgebouw Brugge (Bruges BE) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 31 May | Between Two Lights co-production | Amare (The Hague NL) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
June 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 01 Jun | Lee Miller in Hitlers Bathtub | Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna AT) Premiere | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 03 Jun | Lee Miller in Hitlers Bathtub | Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna AT) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 04 Jun | Between Two Lights co-production | deSingel (Antwerp BE) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 04 Jun | Lee Miller in Hitlers Bathtub | Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna AT) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 05 Jun | Lee Miller in Hitlers Bathtub | Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna AT) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 05 Jun | Between Two Lights co-production | Concertzaal Tilburg (Tilburg NL) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 06 Jun | Lee Miller in Hitlers Bathtub | Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna AT) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
May 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22 May | Between Two Lights co-production | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 May | Between Two Lights co-production | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 31 May | Between Two Lights co-production | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
June 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 01 Jun | Lee Miller in Hitlers Bathtub | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 03 Jun | Lee Miller in Hitlers Bathtub | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 04 Jun | Between Two Lights co-production | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 04 Jun | Lee Miller in Hitlers Bathtub | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 05 Jun | Lee Miller in Hitlers Bathtub | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 05 Jun | Between Two Lights co-production | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 06 Jun | Lee Miller in Hitlers Bathtub | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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