Frans Brood Productions Information

Frans Brood Productions is a theatre agency in Ghent that has concentrated on the international distribution of productions since 1983. The focus is both on contemporary dance productions and a range of theatre, circus and entertainment in the open air, on the street or at special locations. Over the years we have built up a large number of contacts. First of all in the Benelux countries and later in Europe and all over the world. Consequently, the groups we represent appear in theatre, at festivals and other events all over the world. Apart from this we also bring groups from other parts of the world to Europe. Our selection regularly includes artists from Australia and New Zealand in particular. Over the past few years we have worked with numerous groups (1983-2008). With some of them this has been only for a short period, a specific production or a particular region. However, at present we can send most companies to countries all over the world and provide the back-up for all their productions. Commitment to individual theatre-makers and working closely together with a group gives us great satisfaction. Nevertheless, our task also includes close consultation with festival organisers and advising groups who are just starting. Presenting street theatre and open-air theatre was a deliberate decision right from the start. At that time we played a pioneering role as we were the first agency in Flanders to promote this type of theatre. In the early years we presented many groups who were as yet unknown in Flanders and the Netherlands, introduced several Flemish groups to the international circuit and helped French, Spanish and other groups to acquire contacts abroad. Fortunately, many other players have in the meantime appeared on the market and more contacts and collaborations between makers and festival organisers have developed through all sorts of networks. Our range has now become smaller and more selective with a focus on new developments in open-air and site-specific theatre. It was the request made by Alain Platel and les Ballets C. de la B. to further their international distribution that led us to and made us decide to opt for contemporary dance-theatre. Together with them, we have over the past 15 years managed to build up a personal network with dance organisations. We were there at the start of Alain Platel and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's success, and now they are both in the world's top rank. In recent years we have successfully introduced several new names to the international dance scene. And we are only too happy to be helping experienced theatre-makers to map out their international course.