Looking for a way to celebrate Thanksgiving in Belgium this year? Come out on Thursday, November 24th, and support the Thanksgiving-day premier of OUR TOWN, Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, produced by BEAT, the Brussels English Actor’s Theater. Directed by John Flanders, 20 members of the Flanders Acting Studio (FAS) will bring this play to life in an intimate production that aims to entertain, educate and move an audience. BEAT developed out of the desire of a number of FAS actors to present quality English-language theater to the growing demands of the expat and English-speaking Belgian community.
Mr. Flanders, a professional actor who moved to Belgium from Los Angeles in 2003, integrated himself into the film and television market here and saw an immediate need for ongoing, professional acting training in English. The Flanders Acting Studio opened its doors, in March, 2007, to 5 willing students. Nearly 10 years later, over 200 actors - beginners, amateurs and professionals - have been coached at the studio, with many successfully entering the field and continuing as professionals.
With an emphasis on “truthful” acting and drawing from the contemporary techniques of Sanford Meisner and Ivana Chubbuck, the Flanders Acting Studio coaches actors to not “indicate” their characters, nor to “dramatize” their performances, but to “live” their acting experience by infusing their character’s objectives and behaviors with their own. Proven ideal for screen acting, these techniques have also been successfully applied to the stage. Flanders feels they are ideal for Wilder’s “metatheatrical” play, “OUR TOWN”, of which Wilder wrote, "…should be performed without sentimentality or ponderousness – simply…and sincerely."
One of the most-produced plays in American history, OUR TOWN tells the story of two families, the Gibbses and Webbs, and a small group of citizens in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners. Aside from seeing them growing up, falling in love and getting married, nothing much else seems to take place, but the play consistently has had a strong emotional impact on even the most critical viewer.
Our Town will be presented in four performances. Tickets are €10 - €15.
November 24th, 25th, 26th at 8 pm
November 27th at 3 pm (for families with younger children)
Flanders Acting Studio
25 Rue Walcourt
1070 Brussels
Information & tickets:
www.beatheater.be
www.flandersactingstudio.com
