ABOUT
TROUPE
COURAGE
Troupe 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 my heart sing loudly! The enormous creative necessity with which they search for an encounter is a great inspiration.”
WENDE
artist
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.
WIE IS
TROUPE COURAGE
Troupe Courage always seeks the highest level of game intelligence. For the troupe, intelligence is not about knowledge, not about vocabulary or ideas, it is about actions. Game intelligence is not a thought, it is an action. How do you act in the given situation? That is what Troupe Courage trains and that is where their game intelligence lies; not in the conversation, but in the action. This is why every Courageist is a young dog who actually wants nothing more than to go outside to play. And going outside here means going to new places, meeting new people, learning new things. Because play is life force.
In the idea that no one night is the same, Troupe Courage is therefore radical. No matter how many archetypes and recurring scenarios are used, every evening is guaranteed to be different. And however much the theatricality of commedia is built on power relations, there is always a radical equality between the players. Troupe Courage has no star players, has no number 1 and 2, the only thing that makes a Troupe Courage player successful is a constant yes, to everything. A yes that always leads to new scenarios and new actions. Both on the floor and in the world.
In doing so, Troupe Courage fights for a very basic but completely disregarded right, the right to play. Play increases creativity and resilience, it's all about generating diversity: diversity of interactions, diversity of behaviours, diversity of connections. Not infrequently people ask how the Troupe always gets so much done, again the answer is not an answer, it is an action: saying yes to the other and not fighting, but playing. It just fights against everything that restricts people in that right.
Troupe Courage's work is therefore steeped in improvisation. Not only on the floor does improvisation play an essential role, but throughout the organisation. Also in marketing, business management, production work. It all requires improvisation. Improvisation never means: we'll see, but means a lot of training, to be able to react to all scenarios. A training that should never lead to repetition, but should lead to constant readiness to play. That's why they call themselves playground warriors.