2022-2023

Play Your Part – the show must go on!

Warehouse Studio Theatre

The Warehouse in Schaerbeek is the beating heart of community theatre in Brussels, which has welcomed hundreds of people and projects over its 30 years of use. It now requires essential and long overdue updates. Without them, we fear the curtain will finally come down on this wonderful community project. Play Your Part is your chance to secure the future of the Warehouse for another 30 years. 

Please visit the Play Your Part web site for more information or make a donation.

BSS: The Taming Of The Shrew (5-8 Oct 2022)

The Brussels Shakespeare Society presents ‘The Taming Of The Shrew’, directed by Charles Bouchard.

Venue: Centre Culturel Jacques Franck, Chau. de Waterloo 94, 1060 Saint-Gilles.

Dates: Wednesday 5th to Saturday 8th of October. 20.00

Matinée: Saturday 8th, 14.00

Tickets: €17 adults, €14 full-time students.

Googlemap of venue

Tickets online here.

ETC: Our Man In Havana (12-22 Oct 2022)

ETCetera will present Graham Greene’s comic satire on Cold War politics in October at the Warehouse Studio Theatre, directed by Janet Middleton. Come and enjoy the chaos that results as the detailed plans of new vacuum cleaner somehow get taken for the layout of a secret Russian military installation on the island!

The production will be in both English and Spanish, with surtitles.

The performance dates are 12th-15th and 19th-22nd of October (with a possible extra show on the 11th to be decided).

The Box Office is open now.

https://thelittleboxoffice.com/etcetera

ECC: ‘Queers’ (25-29 Oct 2022)

ECC presents four of the eight monologues curated by Mark Gatiss. Two were performed at this year’s FEATS, directed by Mark Prescott, and will be repeated + another two directed by Tanya Arler.

Originally broadcast on BBC Four to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men over the age of twenty-one, Queers celebrates a century of evolving social attitudes and political milestones in British gay history, as seen through the eyes of eight individuals. 

Poignant and personal, funny, tragic and riotous, these monologues for male and female performers cover major events – such as the Wolfenden Report of 1957, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the debate over the age of consent – through deeply affecting and personal rites-of-passage stories.

Tuesday 25th to Saturday 29th of October, 20.00 at The Warehouse Studio Theatre.

The Box Office is now open.

ATC: Auditions (5-9 Nov 2022)

The Baltimore Waltz
by Paula Vogel

In the wake of a distressing medical diagnosis, a brother and sister set off on a whirlwind tour of Europe. Seeking adventure and an experimental if dubious cure, Carl and Anna embark on a now-or-never trip into the throes of romance and mystery – and toward each other, for the kind of comfort and love only a sibling can offer.

Three roles:
Carl – mid-30s, American accent essential
Anna – early 30s, American accent essential
The Third Man – plays a variety of small, wide-ranging roles; American accent not necessary, but an ability to imitate a variety of European accents as well as a neutral American or “mid-Atlantic” accent is important. Please note: there are scenes of a physically intimate nature between Anna and the Third Man.

Auditions will be held at the following times:
Saturday 5 November at 18.00
Sunday 6 November at 16.00
Wednesday 9 November at 20.00


Performances will take place March 16-25, 2023 at the Warehouse Studio Theatre in Schaerbeek.

Both experienced actors and newcomers are welcome and encouraged to audition! To schedule your attendance at an audition, please contact the director, Robynn Colwell, at robynn.colwell@gmail.com. Further details and location will be provided when confirming your audition.
Please note that walk-ins cannot be accommodated.

ATC: Almost, Maine (15-19 Nov 2022)

As the second of its ‘Studio Nights’ series, The American Theatre Company presents ‘Almost, Maine’ by John Cariani.

Set in the snow-covered, fictional town of Almost in the U.S. state of Maine, the play consists of nine independent vignettes bound together by the magic of the northern lights, and explores romance, relationships and the variety of stumbles along love’s journey.

It will be performed from the 15th to 19th of November at The Warehouse Studio Theatre, Rue Waelhem 69a, 1030 Bruxelles.

Googlemap of venue.

Tickets are available here.

BLOC: Chess (24-27 Nov 2022)

A rock musical like no other! CHESS challenges you to remain impartial as you observe the ancient game of chess through the trials and tribulations of unexpected romances and political intrigue. When Frederick ‘Freddie’ Trumper, the current World Champion, arrives in the small town of Merano, Italy, to face his challenger, Anatoly Sergievsky, it soon becomes clear there’s more than the title of World Champion at stake.

Whilst the crowd witnesses the strain displayed by both players, Florence Vassy, a remarkable woman and companion to Freddie, provokes the rising of an unsettled past, pushing her to the centre of an emotional and political triangle. Make your move and buy your tickets for this critically acclaimed production which includes the international hit singles, ‘I Know Him So Well’, ‘One Night In Bangkok’, ‘Anthem’ and ‘Heaven Help my Heart ‘.

Dates: Thursday 24th to Sunday 27th of November

Venue: Auderghem Cultural Centre, Bd du Souverain 183, 1160 Auderghem.

Tickets available here.

Googlemap of venue

BSO: At Sea (10-11 Dec 2022)

The Bruocsella Symphony Orchestra presents their annual pre-Christmas entertainment for children. As ever, the show combines a fun story for children performed by actors and narrated at different performances in French, Flemish and English, all of it accompanied by a live concert orchestra playing a mix of popular classical and modern music to help tell the story.

The show is at the W:Halll, the Maison Communale at Ave. Charles Thielemans 93, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. There is good parking availability nearby. (Drive into the underground entrance, turn right and drive out of it: there is a large free carpark on that exit road.)

Performances on Sarurday 10th of December at 16.00 (Flemish narration), 19.00 (French narr.) and on Sunday at 14.00 (English narration) and 17.00 (French narr.)

Tickets are available here.

Googlemap of venue

ECC: Sinbad The Sailor (20-22 Jan 2023)

Tickets are on sale for next year’s ECC panto, Sinbad the Sailor, which will be performed as usual at the Auderghem Cultural Centre on 20-22 January 2023.

Early bird rates until October 20th.

Get ready to set sail for a panto adventure unlike any you’ve experienced before! Let Sheherezade our story-teller weave you the magical tale of Sinbad and his friends, whose voyage takes them from the shores of exotic Knokke-le-Souk to far-off lands where they face perils and enchantments untold… with a lot of laughs and songs along the way…

January 2023:
Friday 20th – 8pm
Saturday 21st – 1.30pm & 5.30pm
Sunday 22nd – 1.30pm & 5.30pm

Tickets:
Adult 18€ (early bird 16€)
Child 14€ (early bird 12€)

ITG: Normal Conversations? (28 Feb-4 March 2023)

A double-bill of drama: Get Your Tickets

SALAD DAY

A short conversation between an elderly man and woman is set in a residential convalescent home. The pair share memories of their respective but separate lives in previous years.

Surreptitiously at first, the woman devises a plan for them to escape together but is foiled by circumstances from carrying it out.

This poignant play was the forerunner of a successful full length drama ‘Halcyon Days’ by the author Deidre Kinahan

THE APPROACH

Three women meet over a number of years, always in pairs, and between what is said and what is not said during their conversations lies the truth.

What, on the surface, appears to be simple gossip between old friends hides a deeper tension. They are haunted by their memories of what they once shared together but now no longer enjoy.

There is a cyclical element to the play where they find themselves having the same conversations with subtle differences during different pairings and they often ask the same questions as if hoping for a different response.

Several years pass between each conversation and the cyclical nature of the play is emphasised when, at the end, we suddenly return to the beginning of the first conversation. Only then do we realise that we had originally joined it halfway through.

This will be the second play that the ITG has chosen to perform written by the successful Irish author Mark O’Rowe having previously performed ‘ Our Few and Evil Days ‘ in 2019.

Both plays are set in Dublin in the recent past.  Both explore how we can all appear to communicate our stories honestly, but we often reveal our true selves only partially.  As a result, both plays offer universal insights and as many questions as answers as the characters develop.

Both plays are directed by Lyn Wainwright.

Tickets now available here.

Venue: Warehouse Studio Theatre, Rue Waelhem 69A, Schaerbeek 1030

Googlemap of location

ATC: The Baltimore Waltz (16-25 Mar 2023)

The Baltimore Waltz by Paula Vogel, directed by Robynn Colwell.

In the wake of a distressing medical diagnosis, a brother and sister set off on a whirlwind tour of Europe. Seeking adventure and an experimental if dubious cure, Carl and Anna embark on a now-or-never trip into the throes of romance and mystery – and toward each other – for the kind of comfort and love only a sibling can offer.

Venue: The Warehouse Studio Theatre, Waelhemstraat 69, 1030 Schaerbeek.

Tickets available at https://www.billetweb.fr/the-baltimore-waltz

Googlemap of venue location

ECC: The Boss Of It All (20-29 Apr 2023)

On 20-22, 26-29 April, the ECC presents The Boss of it All by Lars von Trier, adapted for the stage by Jack MacNamara and directed by Anna Holmén.

The boss of an IT company is secretly selling up. To save face in front of his staff he hires an actor to take the blame as “the boss of it all” having travelled to Denmark from abroad.

Venue: The Warehouse Studio Theatre, Waelhemstraat 69, 1030 Schaerbeek.

Googlemap of venue location

Join us to see this sharp and witty comedy about office life.

Tickets are available from https://thelittleboxoffice.com/ecc/ and are 17 EUR

BLOC: Iolanthe (18-21 May 2023)

Gilbert & Sullivan’s evergreen classic, directed by Tony and Angela Lowe, musical direction, Lionel Bams.

What happens when a flock of formidable fairies descends upon a party of Parliamentary Peers? The answer – complete chaos! The worlds of Fairyland and Parliament collide in a marvellous musical masterpiece of comedy entertainment in Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic opera “Iolanthe”.

So, put on your wings and join us in Fairyland!

Venue: De Bosuil Cultural Centre, Witherendreef 1, 3090 Overijse

Google map of venue

20.00, 18th, 19th & 20th of May.

14.30, 20th & 21st of May.

Tickets HERE

ATC: Studio Nights – a FEATS double bill (6-10 June)

For this edition of Studio Nights, the ATC is proud to present a FEATS double bill, featuring two one-act plays that the ATC has taken to the Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies, or FEATS.

Accelerated Intimacy, by Chiara Venturini, won the 2018 FEATS award for best original script. It is being directed by Carrie Ellwanger, who also brought the play to FEATS that year. It tells the story of two complete strangers who are stuck in a disabled New York City subway car. To pass the time and relieve the awkwardness, they decide to take a quiz they find in a discarded newspaper: a series of questions designed to “accelerate intimacy” between strangers. It’s a premise both find mildly amusing – okay, maybe a little intriguing, as good a remedy for boredom as anything else, right? Certainly nothing more than that…

Baby Boom, by emerging American playwright Lia Romeo, directed by Jeremy Zeegers, was this year’s ATC entry at FEATS in Bad Homburg, Germany (26-29 May). The play is a delightfully quirky, darkly comic, and ultimately tragic exploration of the normalization of guns in American culture. It peeks beneath the facade of suburban utopia and into the lives of two young American families. Through a series of twists and turns, the story features heartbreak, a yearning for family, a flickering love, the desire to be understood, the need for community, and an innocent gun.

Get tickets here: https://www.billetweb.fr/studio-nights-feats-double-bill

ETC: La Grande Duchesse (22-25 June 2023)

La Grande Duchesse poster image

ETCetera presents ‘La Grande Duchess de Gerolstein’ by Jacques Offenbach, directed by Andy Fisk, musical direction by Steven de Mesmaeker and Elizabeth Flynn.

Performances will be;

Thursday June 22nd at 8.00 pm
Friday June 23rd at 8.00 pm
Saturday June 24th at 8.00 pm
Sunday June 25th at 3.00 pm

Venue: De Bosuil Cultural Centre, Witherendreef 1, 3090 Overijse

Click for Googlemap of venue

Tickets here.

ECC Auditions: December 8-15

AUDITIONS for the next ECC PRODUCTION

Anna Holmén will be directing the ECC’s production of The Boss Of it All, an office farce by Lars von Trier, adapted for stage by Jack McNamara, performing in The Warehouse Studio Theatre in April 2023. This will be a two-week production.

Auditions will be held in The Warehouse, Rue Waelhem 69a, 1030 Schaerbeek, on the following dates:
Thursday 8 Dec, 19.30-21.00 in the Studio
Sunday 11 Dec, 14.00-17.00 in the Back room
Monday 12 Dec, 19.30-21.00 in the Bar room
Thursday 15 Dec, 19.30-21.00 in the Studio

If you want to audition, but can’t make it any of those dates, get in touch with Anna: annaholmen@hotmail.com

The boss of an IT company is secretly selling up. To save face in front of his staff he hires an actor to take the blame as ‘the boss of it all’ having travelled to Denmark from abroad.

Roles:
Kristoffer, an actor, 45-60 years
Ravn, the head of a company, 35-55
Lise, employee, 25-40
Gorm, employee, 30-45
Nalle, employee, 25-40
Mette, employee, 30-55
Finnur, an Icelandic businessman, 30-60
Interpreter (male or female), 25-65

BSS: Charles III (Feb-Mar 2023)

The Brussels Shakespeare Society will be auditioning for Charles III, written by Mike Bartlett, directed by Johanna Kainz. The play will be perfomed from the 24th to 28th October 2023 at Mercelis Theater, Rue Mercelis, 13 1050 Ixelles.

The Play (written in 2014!):
Prince Charles has spent his entire life yearning for the crown, which is now within reach. But even before the coronation, King Charles III’s idealism is put to the test as Parliament just enacted a new bill that drastically restricts journalistic freedom. It is customary for the monarch to sign the bill, but Charles refuses. And so within a month of his mother’s funeral he sees himself in a direct clash with the Prime Minister.
Whilst most of the family struggles with what King Charles’ actions mean for the future of the monarchy, Prince Harry meets someone who makes him wonder about his own future potentially away from it all.

Audition Dates:
Wednesday 22nd February 19:00 – 21:00
Saturday 25th February 10:00 -12:00
Thursday 2nd March 19:00 – 21:00
Sunday 5th March 11:00-14:00

Audition Location: Rue de Belle-Vue 40, 1000 Bruxelles
https://goo.gl/maps/opKbUwyDi9m2odpw8

We are looking for

Male Cast

  1. Charles, the King of England (yet uncrowned) male, 50-70
  2. William, the heir to the throne, male 25-35
  3. Harry, the second son of Charles III, male 25-35
  4. James Reiss, the royal press advisor, male 45-55
  5. Prime Minister Tristram Evans, labour, male 40s/50s

Doubled Roles

  1. Cootsey (friend of Harry’s) /Sir Michael (Head of the Met), male any age
  2. Spencer(friend of Harry’s) /Sir Gordon (Head of the armed forces), male any age
  3. Speaker of the House of Commons/Achbishop of Canterbury, male 60+
  4. Nick (royal underbutler)/Clive (Kebab salesman) male any age

Female Cast

  1. Camilla, wife of Charles, queen consort, female 50-70
  2. Kate, William‘s wife female 25-35
  3. Jess, Harry’s Girlfriend female, 20s
  4. Leader of the Opposition Ms. Stevens, Conservative, female, 40s/50s

Doubled Roles

  1. Ghosts/ TV Producer, female mid 20s to mid 30s
  2. Sarah (Right hand of the PM)/Newspaper Lady, female any age

BUTT Awards 2022-23

The votes have been counted and the awards awarded (ably hosted this year by Mark Prescott, pictured). Here is the list of the nominees in each category, with the award winner first and highlighted in bold type. The other nominees appear in no particular order.

Our thanks once again to Martin Blackwell for providing the delightful venue!

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