NTGent

NTGent, originally called Nederlands Toneel Gent, is a theatre company based in Ghent, Belgium. Founded on 28 October 1965 as the city theatre of Ghent, it operates from the Royal Dutch Theatre, or Koninklijke Nederlandse Schouwburg, and also uses the smaller Minnemeers venue. The company is publicly supported by the Flemish Community and the City of Ghent, and combines local civic theatre responsibilities with international artistic production and touring. The organisation presents itself as “Het Stadtstheater van de Toekomst,” or “the City Theatre of the Future.” Its work has increasingly emphasised contemporary social questions, multilingual performance, accessibility, international collaboration and the relationship between theatre and political reality. Although it historically maintained a permanent ensemble, its working model changed after 2018 toward project-based employment of performers and collaborators. NTGent became particularly associated with Swiss director Milo Rau, who served as artistic director from 2018 until January 2023 and remained responsible for the 2023–2024 artistic programme. Rau sought to challenge what he regarded as the exclusive and elitist model of the traditional European city theatre. Under his leadership, NTGent adopted the ten-point Ghent Manifesto, a programme of artistic principles that called for productions to engage with real-world change rather than merely represent events, to limit literal adaptations of source material, to use at least two languages on stage, and to develop work in places affected by conflict or lacking cultural infrastructure. The manifesto also proposed that productions should tour widely before leaving the company's repertoire. The resulting work has ranged from reinterpretations of canonical texts and local cultural symbols to documentary theatre, historical re-enactment and projects made with non-professional or marginalised performers. Examples include Lam Gods, which reimagined Ghent's famous Van Eyck altarpiece with local residents; the Histoire(s) du Théâtre series; Antigone in the Amazon, created with Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement and addressing land rights, state violence and ecological destruction; and The Last Generation, or the 120 Days of Sodom, produced with actors with Down syndrome from Theater Stap. NTGent also functions as a platform for resident and associated artists. Its collaborations have included directors, choreographers and performance makers such as Faustin Linyekula, Angélica Liddell, Miet Warlop, Tim Etchells, Luanda Casella and Lara Staal. In 2023 the Belgian company Ontroerend Goed was appointed an artist in residence for five years. As of 2024, the company's artistic co-directors are Yves Degryse, Barbara Raes and Melih Gençboyacı, with Milo Rau continuing as a house artist and retaining a role in the recent programme. The company presents performances in Ghent and tours internationally. Its principal venues are the approximately 600-seat Royal Dutch Theatre and the approximately 200-seat Minnemeers, with additional partnerships involving VIERNULVIER and the Minardschouwburg. NTGent has also invested in audience access: patrons can use a personalised tablet application providing subtitles, audio description, sign-language support and other assistance for people with sensory disabilities or limited Dutch-language proficiency. Venue modernisation and infrastructure work have been planned for both principal buildings.

NTGent was established on 28 October 1965 as Nederlands Toneel Gent, the public city theatre of Ghent. It took up residence in the Royal Dutch Theatre, a historic theatre building associated with Dutch-language performance in the city. The venue had been used as a permanent home by the Nederlands Tooneel van Gent from the late nineteenth century and later hosted companies from Antwerp and Brussels before NTGent's arrival. The company developed within the public theatre tradition of Flanders, presenting productions for a local audience while maintaining a professional artistic organisation. Its artistic leadership changed repeatedly over the decades. Dré Poppe was followed by Albert Hanssens, Walter Eysselynck, Jacques Van Schoor, Jef Demedts, Hugo Van Den Berghe, Jean-Pierre De Decker, a collective leadership period around the turn of the century, Johan Simons, Wim Opbrouck and later Milo Rau. Until 2018, NTGent was associated with a permanent ensemble that included performers such as Elsie de Brauw, Wim Opbrouck, Els Dottermans and Risto Kübar. The Royal Dutch Theatre underwent a long period of refurbishment between 1979 and 1993. Renovation work affected the entrance and auditorium particularly from 1987 to 1993, forcing NTGent to use alternative performance locations. The organisation later expanded its venue infrastructure through the Minnemeers site and partnerships with other Ghent cultural institutions. The KNS was subject to further modernisation and internal reorganisation from 2016 onward. A major artistic change came in 2018, when Milo Rau became artistic director. Rau argued that the conventional European city theatre could be too exclusive and insufficiently representative of contemporary multicultural cities. He repositioned NTGent around international collaboration, political theatre, multilingualism and projects connected to locations outside established cultural infrastructure. These ideas were expressed in the Ghent Manifesto, which included requirements concerning multilingual performance, limits on literal adaptations, work in conflict or war zones, and international touring. One consequence of this shift was a move away from a fixed ensemble toward actors and collaborators engaged for particular projects. Rau's period produced a series of works that combined documentary methods, re-enactment, adaptation and participation. Lam Gods used Ghent's celebrated Van Eyck altarpiece as the starting point for a performance involving local residents. The Histoire(s) du Théâtre series examined theatre history through new creations and re-enactments, including La Reprise, which addressed a homophobic murder in Liège, and later contributions by artists including Faustin Linyekula, Angélica Liddell, Miet Warlop and Tim Etchells. NTGent's international orientation was especially visible in Antigone in the Amazon. Rau and collaborators worked in the Brazilian state of Pará with the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra. The production connected Sophocles' story to conflicts over land, the destruction of Amazonian forests, forced displacement and the 1996 Eldorado do Carajás massacre. It combined live acting, film, music and storytelling, and subsequently toured in Europe and beyond. Rau left the artistic-director position in January 2023 but continued his relationship with NTGent. From 2023, Barbara Raes, Melih Gençboyacı and Yves Degryse served as co-artistic directors, while Rau remained responsible for the 2023–2024 programme. The company continued to support a network of house artists and residents, including Luanda Casella, Lara Staal, Ontroerend Goed, Miet Warlop and Irene Wool, and Action Zoo Humain. In December 2023, NTGent and Theater Stap presented The Last Generation, or the 120 Days of Sodom, performed by actors with learning disabilities in three languages. In 2024, the company was associated with Elektra Unbound, a co-production with deSingel and HAU Berlin. NTGent currently combines local venue management, international touring, artistic residencies and public-service commitments. Its access programme provides tools such as subtitles, audio description, sign-language support and a personalised tablet application for audiences with disabilities or limited Dutch proficiency. Plans for further work at Minnemeers include the development of a dual venue with a black-box theatre and a new hall, alongside relocation of production and rehearsal functions.

• 2024

  Elektra Unbound co-produced

  [1]NTGenten.wikipedia.org

  NTGent participated in the co-production of Elektra Unbound with deSingel and HAU Berlin.

• 2023

  New co-artistic leadership appointed

  [1]NTGenten.wikipedia.org

  Barbara Raes, Melih Gençboyacı and Yves Degryse became NTGent's co-artistic directors.

• 2023

  Antigone in the Amazon premieres

  [1]NTGenten.wikipedia.org

  The international production premiered in May after collaborative work in Brazil with the Landless Workers' Movement.

• 2023

  Ontroerend Goed begins residency

  [1]NTGenten.wikipedia.org

  Ontroerend Goed was appointed NTGent's artist in residence for a five-year period.

• 2023

  The Last Generation presented

  [1]NTGenten.wikipedia.org

  The collaboration with Theater Stap premiered in December with a cast including actors with Down syndrome.

• 2018

  Milo Rau begins artistic directorship

  [1]NTGenten.wikipedia.org

  Rau introduced a more international, multilingual and politically engaged model and published the Ghent Manifesto.

• 2018

  Lam Gods presented

  [1]NTGenten.wikipedia.org

  The production reinterpreted Ghent's famous Van Eyck altarpiece through local participants and contemporary performance.

• 1993

  Major theatre refurbishment completed

  [1]NTGenten.wikipedia.org

  The principal venue's major refurbishment period ended after years of construction and alternative arrangements for performances.

• 1979

  Long-term Royal Dutch Theatre refurbishment begins

  [1]NTGenten.wikipedia.org

  The KNS entered an extensive refurbishment programme that continued into the 1990s.

• 1965

  Nederlands Toneel Gent established

  [1]NTGenten.wikipedia.org

  Nederlands Toneel Gent was founded as Ghent's public city theatre and took up residence at the Royal Dutch Theatre.

A publicly supported city theatre that combines Ghent-based civic programming with experimental, multilingual, politically engaged and internationally touring performance.

• Theatre production · 2018

  Lam Gods

  A performance inspired by the Ghent Altarpiece by Hubert and Jan van Eyck. The production translated the artwork's religious and civic imagery into live theatre and involved local residents as figures including biblical characters, crusaders and martyrs.

• Theatre series · 2018

  Histoire(s) du Théâtre

  An ongoing series that reflects on theatre history through new performance rather than conventional historical exposition. Contributions have included Milo Rau's La Reprise, Faustin Linyekula's work, Angélica Liddell's In Liebestod, Miet Warlop's One Song and Tim Etchells' How Goes The World.

• International political theatre · 2023

  Antigone in the Amazon

  A multilingual adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone made with collaborators in the Brazilian Amazon and the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra. Film, music, storytelling and live performance address land rights, ecological destruction, displacement, state violence and the Eldorado do Carajás massacre.

• Inclusive theatre production · 2023

  The Last Generation, or the 120 Days of Sodom

  A collaboration with Theater Stap that draws on Pier Paolo Pasolini's film and is performed in three languages by actors including people with Down syndrome. The production extends NTGent's interest in inclusive casting and challenging established theatrical forms.

• Co-produced theatre production · 2024

  Elektra Unbound

  A co-production involving NTGent, deSingel and HAU Berlin, featuring Luanda Casella and reworking the Electra myth within a contemporary performance context.

• 2018Ghent Manifesto

  Belgium · International touring markets

  A ten-point artistic programme introduced during Milo Rau's directorship. It called for theatre to engage with real-world change, use at least two languages, limit literal adaptations, create at least one work each season in a conflict or war zone, and tour each production across multiple countries.

  Outcome. The manifesto became a framework for NTGent's international, multilingual and socially engaged production strategy.

  Source

• 2023

  Appointment of long-term artist residencyStrategy

  Background

  NTGent sought to maintain a sustained relationship with Belgian performance makers after its leadership transition.

  Action taken

  Ontroerend Goed was appointed artist in residence for five years.

  Aftermath

  The residency reinforced NTGent's role as a producing and developmental platform for contemporary performance.

  Source

• 2018

  Shift from permanent ensemble to project-based collaborationStrategy

  Background

  NTGent historically operated with a permanent ensemble, but the artistic model changed after Milo Rau became artistic director and the company pursued more international and project-specific work.

  Action taken

  Performers were increasingly engaged for individual productions rather than as members of a continuing resident ensemble.

  Aftermath

  The company expanded its network of international artists and developed productions combining documentary methods, multilingual performance and site-specific collaboration.

  Source

• 2018

  Adoption of the Ghent ManifestoStrategy

  Background

  Rau argued that the traditional European city-theatre model could be exclusive and insufficiently representative of multicultural urban life.

  Action taken

  NTGent adopted principles promoting multilingual productions, international touring, work outside conventional cultural infrastructure and restricted use of source texts.

  Aftermath

  The manifesto shaped a series of politically engaged works and strengthened NTGent's identity as an internationally oriented theatre platform.

  Source

1. 1NTGenten.wikipedia.org
2. 2NTGent official websitentgent.be