ABOUT
TROUPE
COURAGE
Troupe Courage (formerly Theatre Hotel Courage) is an international acting collective that produces performances and conducts workshops worldwide. They create a very virtuoso theater, using archetypal masks to play characters from all walks of life, such as the old woman, the dictator, the playing child and the refugee. In a completely empty space with live music, the actors manage to enchant the audience with their transformations and bring collected stories to life in the imagination of the viewer. Stories about how everyone tries to survive in today's world, which can be both tragic and primal. Troupe Courage creates high-level popular theater in which the actor's drive and ingenuity flourish and where the energy and enjoyment of acting shine through.
Troupe Courage, founded by Katrien van Beurden, has in recent years traveled the world like a group of explorers with a bag full of masks. During this journey, the group played in special and unusual places, collected local stories and met international actors who joined the troupe. They played in a village square for a tribe in Shantiniketan (India), in the Freedom Theatre of the refugee camp in Jenin (Palestine) and in the community center of Accra (Ghana). The interaction at these performance venues was pure and raw and the connecting power of theater was more palpable than ever.
“Troupe Courage makes theater at a high artistic level that is accessible to all layers of society; a theater that has endless possibilities for play, is precise, primal, current, vulnerable but above all alive.
With her skill, passion and entrepreneurial spirit, Van Beurden has created a theater in which the most diverse people are naturally connected; a unique harmony that is visibly expressed on stage.”
Stef Collignon - director Amerborgh Nederland
Troupe Courage collects stories as an explorer. Everywhere the company goes, it finds stories about people who, no matter how complex the situation, will, must, no will survive.”
Dennis Molendijk - Dramaturg
BACKGROUND
The work of Troupe Courage is called Neo-Commedia Dell'arte by experts. They use newly developed and contemporary masks, made by mast maker Den Durand. They are the only traveling contemporary Commedia company in the world. For each project, Troupe Courage gathers new people locally: top actors, musicians, artists, photographers, film directors, but also the local population. Not infrequently, these people become permanently attached to the company and sometimes even travel the world with them. For example, actors from Palestine or Ghana still fly in for Troupe Courage performances.
Troupe Courage has a unique group of performers and artists worldwide that they work with. Looking back, it is noticeable that Troupe Courage often ends up in conflict zones. Although this is never consciously sought out, the company is naturally drawn to it. Crisis is fuel for bread players, survival is in their nature. You will therefore not soon encounter Troupe Courage in the red plush, but rather on the street, in the busy city or in a completely deserted area.
In order to continue to travel and survive, Troupe Courage always leaves with minimal resources. There are no scripts, no costumes, no sets, only their masks are fixed baggage. The actors have their physique as their most important instrument and they train this constantly. The traditional knowledge and experience of Troupe Courage are of exceptional quality, they are professionals in mime, pantomime and improvisation, of a level that is unparalleled in the Netherlands.
FROM THEATER HOTEL COURAGE
TO TROUPE COURAGE
After operating for years as Theater Hotel Courage, the group found that the name no longer suited them. At heart they are much more of a collective of actors where travel is in their DNA and, like the Commedia dell'Arte players of the past, they go out to collect stories from the people.
They see their new project 'Heroes of BB' as the perfect moment to change the name of the collective to Troupe Courage.