In 2012 the Theatre Festival will once again be a guest at deSingel. The festival, which is held alternately in Brussels and Antwerp, is the dream opening for a new and exciting performing arts season.
The main programme in the festival is a 'best of', consisting of last season's ten most interesting performances, carefully selected by a professional jury. For the 2012 festival the jury consists of Bert Anciaux, Kristien De Proost (Tristero), Eddie Guldolf (C-mine Genk), Geert Overdam (Festival Boulevard) and Wouter Hillaert (The Standard).
Together they watched more than five hundred performances representing the widest possible range of genres in the performing arts. Apart from text theatre and performance there is also dance and music, and children's and youth theatre. From all this the jury selected ten productions which everyone can now see again just before the start of the new theatre season.
The jury also selected two performances from the choice of the Dutch Theatre Festival (www.tf.nl) and five productions for Circuit X (www.circuitx.be). This series of performances by young artists is given extra attention at the Theatre Festival and will then tour the cultural centres of Flanders.
The Theatre Festival is also a place for encounters, reflection and debate. The kick-off of the festival is traditionally the State of the Union speech delivered by an opinion-maker. In collaboration with the Flemish Theatre Institute, the Theatre Festival will be organising a conference on 'collaboration in the performing arts'. An exhibition will also highlight the history of theatre from the fifties onwards. And finally there is the annual presentation of the Flemish Community's Cultural Prize for the Performing Arts.
The full festival programme will be available from at