Arts Centre Vooruit, Ghent, Belgium

Ontroerend Goed is on a roll. They toured Canada, the U.S. and Australia with ‘Once and for All We’re Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up and Listen’ to rave reviews. Hollywood actess Cate Blanchett was apparently so impressed that she asked the company to create a new piece for the Sydney Theatre Company, where she is the co-artistic director. ‘A Game Of You’, their previous performance, received a four-star review in Flemish newspaper De Morgen. Needless to say, expectations are high for their new piece, ‘Audience’.

The distinction between actors and the audience is often unclear with Ontroerend Goed. More than a piece you just watch, the company takes you by the hand for a performance you truly experience. In ‘The Smile Off Your Face’ the actors manipulated your senses, ‘Intern’ turned into personal therapy and ‘In A game Of You’ played with your mirror image. ‘Audience’ will focus on the audience more than ever.

I’ve often been a spectator, and I like being one. Nothing beats the feeling of being together as an audience in a room full of strangers. Hearing them laugh, smelling them, clapping in the same rhythm as them. Sometimes I’m more interested in them than in what happens on stage.

I wonder how long I could watch them. Probably just as long as I could stand them watching me. Because there is so many of them and I’m all alone.

Let’s take a different approach. Let’s watch the audience together.