Opening Night of The How is theatre like a genius jazz concert

‘Theatre!’ Typically a word for deception and exaggeration and trivial larceny. The word predominantly scores rather low in reliability indices, as does ‘journalism!’. Troublesome for the people who have made it their job. Because they experience it very differently. Which is why there is now a chance to see how real that really is, thanks to the reprisal tour of ‘Opening night’ of The How. That Flemish company full of unique theatre personalities made a deep impression with it in 2023, and those who haven't seen it yet should go and see it now.

‘Opening Night’ is loosely based on John Cassavetes' film of the same name, and the first thing you learn from it is how to actually pronounce that name. With acting that is nowhere bold, but flawless and eager, the seven actors and one camerawoman go at everything that makes emotions deceptive and theatre real. Because theatre, that is agreeing with each other what we believe and don't believe, what we really want and don't do. So theatre is life. Or world politics.

Hotel door

Those kinds of broad thoughts are there for us, in the audience and afterwards. On stage, it is really only about who plays out which scene at which hotel door how, and why Peter van den Ede, star actor of De Hoe's predecessor Company De Koe for 40 years, refuses to memorise his lines this time. And they manage to bring this confusion to a head, even if we in the audience know that they have played this confusion out dozens of times.

This fascinating dry run of a theatre event also gives you a chance to see top actors at work. Besides the brilliantly elusive Peter van den Eede, Els Dottermans and Laurence Roothooft, I was particularly impressed by the Dutch actor Willem de Wolf. I still knew him mainly as Ton Kas' somewhat sulky sidekick, with whom he formed the anti-theatre duo Kas&De Wolf. In Opening Night, he is one of the strongest and most credible characters in a cast that is already unparalleled in command of language, focus and musicality.

The performance can best be compared to a jazz concert, where improvising top musicians seem to pull their golden grips out of the air every time, yet manage to arrive at the same notes over and over again. The musicians of De Hoe are brilliant at this, which makes this evening an intensely musical event that you cannot help but come home very happy.

And that you then learned something too. A rare pleasure in dark times.

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