HANDLE WITH CARE

In the organizer's words:

A fully developed show. Without performers. Without transporting elaborate stage sets. Everything fits in a box. HANDLE WITH CARE explores the limits of "tourability": Can a production resonate internationally without a massive ecological footprint? HANDLE WITH CARE is played by the audience, they only have the instructions from a box. In it: letters, tasks and objects for the audience. Layer by layer, the audience builds a shared performative experience - while no one is watching.

HANDLE WITH CARE is theater, reduced to the essentials. No performers, no technicians. Just a box. And the audience.

A box is sent to the theater.
The instructions are clear:
The audience take their seats.
The box is placed in the middle of the stage.
The audience waits.
And then an audience member stands up and opens the box.
The performance has begun.

CONCEPT & IMPLEMENTATION: Alexander Devriendt, Karolien De Bleser, Samir Veen, Leonore Spee & Charlotte De Bruyne

DESIGN: Nick Mattan & Edouard Devriendt

TRANSLATIONS: Martine Bom (FR), Aurélie Lannoy (FR), Samir Veen (EN), Lore Meesters (DE), Hong Zhan (CN), Tai Yin Chang (CN), Mima Simić (HR), Dayoung Jeong (KR), Andrea Romano (IT) and others

EDITOR ENGLISH: Tiffer Hutchings

VOICES: Silvio Vovk (HR), Jong Wook Yang (KR), Gina Beuk (DE), Karolien De Bleser, Leonore Spee, Samir Veen, Charlotte De Bruyne, Aurélie Lannoy, Alexander Devriendt a. o.

PRODUCTION TEAM: Lynn Van den Bergh, Leda Decleyre, Willie-Marie Hermans & Hannes Pieters

PRODUCTION: Ontroerend Goed

HANDLE WITH CARE is a co-production of 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); 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); Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb (HR); Théâtre La Mouche, Saint-Genis-Laval (FR); Nuovo Teatro Ateneo, Rome (IT); Gothenburg English Studio Theatre (SE); Perpodium, Antwerp (BE); and others.

With the support of the Flemish Community, the City of Ghent, the Tax Shelter measures of the Belgian Federal Government and Cronos Invest.

Many thanks to Angelo Tijssens, zwartopwit, Speelkaartenmuseum / Rock Paper Pencil, Turnhout.