A box is mailed to the theatre.
The instructions are clear: Invite a group of people, on a specific night, at a specific time. Let the audience take their seats. Place the box at the centre of the stage. The audience is waiting. And then an audience member stands up and opens the box. The show has started.
Handle with Care is a theatre performance in a box. No actors, no technicians. Just a box. And you.
In Handle with Care, Ontroerend Goed gives you complete control. We provide the structure, you shape the experience. Choose your role: take the lead or observe as others make choices that steer the performance in unexpected directions. And don’t worry, there are no wrong choices in Handle with Care.
For one hour, you’ll experience something unique – one-off and unrepeatable. Here. Now. Together. No one is watching. Can you create something meaningful?
“I spent a sweetly harmonious hour experiencing Handle With Care, a show like a cross between a Pandora’s Box myth and an unboxing video.”
⭑⭑⭑⭑ The Scotsman, Joyce McMillan
Content warnings:
Audience members are asked to participate, but you can pass everything on to someone else if you don’t feel like doing the task.
The performance includes portrayals of death and dying as well as references to people that are no longer with us.
Concept & creation: Alexander Devriendt, Karolien De Bleser, Samir Veen, Leonore Spee & Charlotte De Bruyne
Design: Nick Mattan & Edouard Devriendt
Translations: Samir Veen (EN), Tiffer Hutchings (editor EN)
Voices: Karolien De Bleser, Leonore Spee, Samir Veen, Charlotte De Bruyne, Aurélie Lannoy, Alexander Devriendt
Production team: Lynn Van den Bergh, Leda Decleyre, Willie-Marie Hermans & Hannes Pieters
Photography: Ans Brys, Joëlle Desmet
Video: Aaron Denolf
Production: Ontroerend Goed
Co-production: NTGent (BE); Stadttheater Schaffhausen (CH); Melbourne Fringe (AU); Theatre Royal Plymouth (UK); Take Me Somewhere, Glasgow (UK); CCAM Scène Nationale de Vandœuvre (FR); IDFA, Amsterdam (NL); De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam (NL); YOUNG Theatre, Shanghai (CN); Hexagone Scène Nationale, Meylan (FR); MAIF Social Club – Biennale Némo, Paris (FR); La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand (FR); Lowry, Salford (UK); Scène Nationale Carré-Colonnes, St. Médard (FR); Theater RAMPE, Stuttgart (DE); The Zoom Arts Center, Seoul (KR); Hong Kong Arts Festival (HK); Cambridge Junction (UK); The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb (HR); Théâtre La Mouche, Saint-Genis-Laval (FR); Sapienza CREA – Nuovo Teatro Ateneo, Rome (IT); Gothenburg English Studio Theatre (SE); Teatro do Bairro Alto, Lisbon (PT); Perpodium, Antwerpen (BE)
With the support of: the Flemish Community, the city of Ghent, the Tax Shelter measures of the Belgian federal government & Cronos Invest
Many thanks to: Angelo Tijssens, Wouter Lambrechts, zwartopwit, Speelkaartenmuseum / Rock Paper Pencil, Turnhout
Theatre and performance group Ontroerend Goed (a punning name, roughly translated as “Feel Estate”) produces self-devised work grounded in the here and now, inviting their audiences to participate as well as observe. They first emerged on the international scene in 2007. With every new piece of work, Ontroerend Goed provides an intense experience constructed in reality; life goes on during the performance. The company has won numerous prizes across Europe and has hit New York, Sydney, London to critical acclaim. Their work is currently being performed in countries around the world.