This opening weekend is a chance to enter a place transformed beyond all recognition, yet informed by a complementary energy that upholds the spirit of continuity and civic engagement of previous seasons. Although the 2017-18 season places special emphasis on the international dimension, this celebratory weekend will showcase the diversity of practices in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and establish the Théâtre National and our region as an open forum for interdisciplinarity.

Puppets, jazz, cabaret, cinema, circus, lectures, dance, street art, photography, anthropological reportage, short format works… these labels mean nothing to the story makers of both sexes who have been invited here. All that matters to them is the boundaries of their discipline, and the steps they have taken towards theatre.

I was lucky enough to cross paths with some of these artists during my directing career. Claudio Stellato, Fabian Fiorini, Looka loopa or Peggy Lee Cooper… Each of these encounters happened when the label attached to my work was beginning to chafe; when I was trying to break my artistic habits and reach the outer limits of theatre in order to court danger.

This is essentially what links all the works taking place this opening weekend.

Not only do they bear the hallmark of the artists’ mastery, their dedication to work and their innovative approach to their individual disciplines but, most importantly, they have arisen out of those artists’ curiosity.

Showing an interest in alternative approaches, being prepared to run risks and take the plunge. These offerings are defined and united by this mix of generosity and shared energy.

In some ways, this is a celebratory preview of the type of production on offer from our new-look Théâtre National…

Fabrice Murgia, Director