Updated Dec. 2025
Ontroerend Goed
Theatre-performance-group Ontroerend Goed (a punning name, roughly translated as “Feel Estate”) produces self-devised work grounded in the here and now, inviting their audiences to participate as well as observe. They first emerged on the international scene in 2007, with 'The Smile Off Your Face', a one-on-one show in which the audience is tied to a wheelchair and then blindfolded. Their hit show 'Once and For All' was an uncompromising celebration of raw teenage energy on stage. With every new piece of work, Ontroerend Goed provides an intense experience constructed in reality; life goes on during the performance. The company has won numerous prizes across Europe and has hit New York, Sydney, London to critical acclaim. Their work is currently being performed in countries around the world.
Ontroerend Goed functions as a collective guided by the artistic director Alexander Devriendt. Convinced that every idea deserves its own brand of artistic expression, the company cherishes a sense of ownership for every single contributor to their work, from actors to light designers, scenographers to conceptual thinkers. Ontroerend Goed fabricates possible realities that question how we as individuals position ourselves in the world today. Covering a history of the universe in one evening, turning spectators into voters who eliminate actors, guiding strangers through a labyrinth of mirrors and avatars to meet themselves, the company has made it its trademark to be unpredictable in content and form.
NTGent and Ontroerend Goed collaborated closely on the performance 'Thanks for Being Here' (2024), currently still on tour. In February 2026, 'Summit' will premiere, a production by Ontroerend Goed & NTGent.
Ontroerend Goed is: Alexander Devriendt, Charlotte De Bruyne, Karolien De Bleser, Aurélie Lannoy, Leonore Spee, Samir Veen, Remi Cosijn, Wim Smet, Hannes Pieters, Luna Boone, Justine Boutens & Beth Thyrion.
In the press
It would be normal to credit the performers and they do indeed bring a deliciously deadpan observational wit – but the real accolades go to all of us for being the show we demanded and for doing it so unselfconsciously. Darlings, we were marvellous
, The Guardian (UK), Read the articleUltimately, that’s what this ‘thank you’ to the audience is really about: the recognition of the political potential of a theatre space (...) that our collective presence there, in all its diversity of perspectives, is a source of change – that much is certain. And the awareness of that is radically hopeful
, Read the article