Safety measures taken during the late 19th-century renovation provided for a series of tiered fire escape balconies that wrap around the exterior of the Flemish theater KVS in Brussels. But if the building’s distinctive design manages to draw viewers out, maverick artistic director Michael De Cock has proven similarly adept at drawing them in.
“We represent the city; we are a city theatre,” says De Cock, who took over in 2016. “We want to be a crossroads where people can meet, share their feelings, talk and be free,” he continues over coffee at the cafe. Theater bar located in a modern building opposite the main building of the historic Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg. This philosophy means that when I visited, the KVS foyer was given over to an artist-led gathering where the names of the dead were read in response to the Israel-Hamas war. Its model is a dynamic theater that operates like a town square – “you have to keep up with the minute” – and this is in stark contrast to many theaters in the UK. Last week cultural workers gathered on London’s South Bank to protest arts organisations’ “profound silence” on the conflict.
He believes the role of KVS is to “give a narrative to a society in difficult times” and thinks: “Whether it is war or climate change… Culture matters and we must put this at the forefront, especially after Covid.” “Culture as a tool for healing and community-building is very important to me,” continues De Cock, who has just published a collection of essays titled Only Imagination Can Save Us. Theater, by its very nature, is about sitting next to complete strangers and sharing the experience; De Cock never wants it to resemble an echo chamber. “I don’t want to talk to people I already agree with.”
That’s why KVS has its own “city dramaturg”, Gerardo Salinas. De Cock explains his vision: “Let’s not ask what the city can give us or what this building can give me as a career, but what could this theater mean for the city? What could we mean to someone passing us?” Salinas’ job is to look for stories emerging in Brussels and “try to read” the capital. “This is the soil we are trying to create,” says De Cock, calling the body of work they produce “the law of tomorrow.” The KVS stage is duly populated by actors representing the community. “A gender diverse, multilingual, multi-ethnic company is really the goal,” he says. Only in this way can they “make today’s theater of the highest quality”.
Sometimes this means reinterpreting the classical repertoire. On the day I visit, the studio space is presenting Ifigeneia, in which the eponymous daughter of the victim tells her story. But this isn’t a pity party. Maaike Neuville and Tessa Hall’s dance theater production features a stunning solo performance by Adanna Unigwe, balancing a tone of anger, frustration, despair and wry humor. “How many scenes do I have in my own tragedy?” asks the hero in disbelief. “Three! I counted them.”
The previous night, the main stage was handed over to Supra – A Feast, written and directed by Nino Haratischwili. The touring show uses the Georgian holiday tradition to highlight women’s experiences through a variety of scenes and songs that blend personal and national experiences. The show is performed by an all-female cast of seven, who move in and out of the audience seated at huge dining tables and trying to sample traditional cuisine. The informal, open spirit is reminiscent of a dinner with friends, shared trusts amid the clink of cutlery and clinking of glasses.
De Cock, who oversees an open community of theatre-makers, emphasizes the concept of sharing the stage. “We don’t always want to have power,” he says. “We share the grounds. Last week an amateur band from Molenbeek was playing here. The place was full of young people.” But he is quick to emphasize that this is not some kind of act of charity, a gift bestowed upon non-professionals: “We are not ‘knowing better’ or ‘passing on’, but a participatory way of making art.”
He says art should be collective if institutions like his do not “want to be like an island.” De Cock also believes that art and politics are inseparable. The proof is in the programming. Next year KVS will host Junior Mthombeni’s “How can you become resilient through laughter?” will present RISA (Reckless Idiots Seeking Forgiveness), which asks the question. One of her most acclaimed recent productions is Alesandra Seutin’s Mimi’s Shebeen, a tribute to the legacy of singer and activist Miriam Makeba.
“’What Shakespeare or Molière are we doing?’ “We don’t have a philosophy like this,” he says. “You can be proud of having this legacy, but we don’t have that legacy. We have Vondel, nobody knows him.” A bust of the Dutch playwright Joost van den Vondel (1587-1679) surveys the street from the theater’s exterior. Don’t expect a traditional revival of his plays anytime soon. As De Cock puts it, “we are in the present.” What if one day they decide to put on Hamlet? “We can screw up Shakespeare all we want and nobody will care. What will we do if we don’t screw this up?”
He pauses to read a few lines from Sonnet 18, recalling a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon in his youth, before setting out his theory about Brussels’ international reputation for dance, which is regularly performed at KVS. He believes this is partly due to the absence of a dominant playwright (like Molière in France). There is also the 80s wave led by choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. But this also has to do with the nature of the city, where so many languages are spoken (KVS uses two sets of surtitles for each production) and gestures become an integral part of communication. “This is Babel. Expression seeks other paths.”
We don’t always want to have power; we share spaces
Michael De Cock
Belgium has elections next year and Vlaams Belang is one of several far-right parties on the rise in Europe. “This would be the worst thing if Flanders had a far-right government. “You can’t just say it will pass,” he says. “This will be a big problem for many vulnerable people. “We can’t let this happen.” Vlaams Belang’s goal is Flemish independence; Does De Cock see this on the horizon? “Not in my time; This is very complicated. I am Flemish but I am against separatism. “I advocate working together, participating, not excluding.”
His outspoken views, which include disagreeing with the right-wing politics of one of his own board members, contrast with the administration’s arts leaders who prefer to speak out. And while De Cock happily confesses his own ego, his vision for KVS is admirably collective. “The era of great managers who protect an institution and say, ‘This place is mine, all this will go to me, I will block the place for three months’… is over. “This is not the path to the best outcome.”
During Covid, when freelance artists in the UK have not been adequately supported by the industry or government, De Cock has done what he can to keep his freelance workforce active. After all, paying artists is an investment in the future and keeps them in the profession. Some of the actors performed in hospitals and schools. The determination to reopen the theater on its own schedule while other venues were closed and awaiting the green light led to the government working directly with them to use KVS as a test case.
“I think it’s wrong not to label us as an essential service,” he says bluntly. When theaters were closed and educational institutions remained open, he, along with choreographer Wim Vandekeybus and slam poet Lisette Ma Neza, went to teach theater in schools. Now, when an artist is given six months of work at KVS, four of them might be preparing a show and two might be teaching. “Theatre should ideally be used in more ways every day,” he says. And above all? “You have to protect the artist,” he says. After all, he adds, “We’re not here to stare at walls!”