AT THE TROUBLEYN/LABORATORIUM
Pastorijstraat 23, 2060 Antwerp, Belgium
The Poetry of Resistance Festival 2026 returns to Troubleyn/Laboratorium this November and December with a programme of bold theatrical creations, poetic encounters and artistic experimentation. Featuring performances by Jan Fabre alongside new work from two resident companies, this edition celebrates artistic freedom, creative rebellion and the transformative power of art.
The program features two powerful works by Troubleyn/Jan Fabre: HARAKIRI (A Political and Incorrect Performance), an explosive theatrical confrontation with the absurdities and contradictions of contemporary society, which was met with great enthusiasm and rave reviews during its performances in Italy last October, and the multi-award-winning LA POÉSIE DE LA RÉSISTANCE (The Poetry of Resistance), a rhythmic manifesto celebrating art, imagination and nonviolent resistance. Audiences can also experience A NIGHT OF ART @TROUBLEYN/LABORATORIUM, combining an exclusive guided tour of the building's extraordinary art collection with a theatrical performance.
The festival also welcomes two artists in residence: FOR MATA WITH LOVE, by Pé Vermeersch / Radical HeArts, a poetic exploration of freedom and sensuality inspired by the legendary Mata Hari, and a special try-out of WHO REMEMBERS THE DONKEYS?, by Alexandre Rodríguez i Fons, a provocative theatrical journey through the darker chapters of Spanish history, drawing inspiration from Goya and Lazarillo de Tormes.
The Poetry of Resistance Festival celebrates the power of artistic imagination, bringing daring ideas to life and giving a voice to those who refuse to remain silent.
| Friday 27 November 2026 18:30 - 22:30 WHO REMEMBERS THE DONKEYS? Artist in residence Alexandre Rodríguez i Fons TRY OUT |
TICKETS |
| Friday 4 December 2026 20:30 - 22:10 HARAKIRI (A political and incorrect performance) |
TICKETS |
| Saturday 5 December 2026 20:30 - 22:10 HARAKIRI (A political and incorrect performance) |
TICKETS |
| Friday 11 December 2026 20:30 - 21:30 LA POÉSIE DE LA RÉSISTANCE with Annabelle Chambon & Cédric Charron |
TICKETS |
| Saturday 12 December 2026 18:30 - 20:00 ART & ARCHITECTURE TOUR with Wil Beckers 20:30 - 21:30 LA POÉSIE DE LA RÉSISTANCE with Annabelle Chambon & Cédric Charron |
TICKETS |
| Thursday 17 December 20:00 - 21:10 FOR MATA WITH LOVE A new creation by Pé Vermeersch / Radical HeArts PREMIÈRE |
TICKETS |
| Friday 18 December 20:00 - 21:10 FOR MATA WITH LOVE A new creation by Pé Vermeersch / Radical HeArts |
TICKETS |
TICKET INFORMATION:
WHO REMEMBERS THE DONKEYS?
TRY OUT Standard price € 10,00
LA POÉSIE DE LA RÉSISTANCE:
Standard price € 25,00 / Under 30 | Student | 65 plus € 22,00
HARAKIRI (A political and incorrect performance):
Standard price € 28,00 / Under 30 | Student | 65 plus € 25,00
FOR MATA WITH LOVE
Standard price € 20,00
A NIGHT OF ART @ TROUBLEYN/LABORATORIUM
ONE TICKET | ART · ARCHITECTURE · PERFORMANCE
Standard price € 35,00 / Under 30 | Student | 65 plus € 30,00
The evening begins with an exclusive Art & Architecture Tour led by guide Wil Beckers, offering a behind-the-scenes discovery of Troubleyn/Laboratorium. Visitors explore the historic former Ringtheater, reimagined as a space for artistic experimentation, where more than 75 permanent works by international artists and writers, including Marina Abramović, Chantal Akerman, Michaël Borremans, Guillaume Bijl, Jan Cremer, Romeo Castellucci, Luc Deleu, Alberto Garutti, Jan Van Imschoot, Chiharu Shiota, Luc Tuymans and Robert Wilson, are integrated into the building's architecture.
The evening continues with a performance of La poésie de la résistance featuring Annabelle Chambon and Cédric Charron.
Location: start in the foyer @Troubleyn Laboratorium
Language/s: Art & Architecture Tour (Dutch) | La poésie de la résistance / The Poetry of Resistance (French spoken | English & Dutch surtitles)
Maximum 15 participants.
| Saturday 12 December 2026 18:30 - 20:00 ART & ARCHITECTURE TOUR with Wil Beckers 20:30 - 21:30 LA POÉSIE DE LA RÉSISTANCE with Annabelle Chambon & Cédric Charron |
TICKETS |
WHO REMEMBERS THE DONKEYS?
Artist in residence Alexandre Rodríguez i Fons
A four-hour theatrical journey into the darkest corners of Spanish history, conceived by writer, director and performer Alexandre Rodríguez i Fons, currently in residence at Troubleyn/Laboratorium. Drawing inspiration from Nietzsche, Lazarillo de Tormes and Francisco Goya’s Los Caprichos, the performance transforms centuries of collective memory into a grotesque spectacle where beauty and horror, cruelty and tenderness collide. Through striking theatrical imagery, dance and dark humour, a lost child journeys through a nightmarish world of religious hypocrisy, political oppression and contemporary capitalism, confronting the weight of an inherited history from which there is no easy escape...[READ MORE]
Spanish & Catalan spoken | English surtitles
Duration: The performance is four hours long, with no intermission.
Audience members are welcome to enter and leave the theatre as they please.
Light snacks (chips, chocolate, fruit) and drinks are available for purchase from our bar before, during and after the performance.
HARAKIRI
(A political and incorrect performance)
Jan Fabre teams up with his Troubleyn company of 11 brilliant actors and dancers to present HARAKIRI (A political and incorrect performance) - a daring dance and theater creation. A ‘razorblade’ performance, designed to simultaneously wound and amuse, it pushes the boundaries of performance art and provokes thought on the world we live in today...[READ MORE]
"A performance inspired by the French satirical magazine, through which the Belgian director-choreographer also pokes fun at himself and his own iconoclastic vocation…It is here that the performance reaches the height of self-parody – something so rare in the avant-garde, which is generally quite serious… Given the intensely demanding nature of the performance – setting aside any ironic or satirical intent – like every choreography by Fabre, it is extremely physically, individually, psychologically and ‘morally’ engaging (let us not succumb to the idea that miming erotic acts whilst naked on stage is a form of ‘easy’ student-style exhibitionism for the actor-dancer), it is only right to mention all 11 performers on stage: Annabelle Chambon, Anny Czupper, Cédric Charron, Conor Doherty, Giorgia Paolillo, Gustav Koenigs, Irene Urciuoli, Ivana Jozić, Matteo Franco, Pietro Quadrino and Stella Höttler." - Mario G | posthuman.it
Multiple languages spoken | English surtitles
Duration: 1 hour & 40 min with no intermission.
LA POÉSIE DE LA RÉSISTANCE
With Annabelle Chambon & Cédric Charron
Multi-award-winning La poésie de la résistance / The Poetry of Resistance is a powerful and engaging theatre text, written by Jan Fabre in 2024, that celebrates the strength of art, poetry, and resistance against oppression...[READ MORE]
“La poésie de la résistance is magnificent: in its conception, aesthetics and performative practice; for the artistic and political value that the ‘thinking bodies’ of Annabelle Chambon and Cédric Charron have managed to bring to the stage without ever giving in to rhetoric or didactic intentions; for the propulsive energy it is able to radiate. La poésie de la résistance is song and dance for the ‘freedom of an endless search’. It is a passing of the torch into the hands of the young. An exhortation to those who have the light of dawn in their eyes to create, to be indignant, to resist, to erode dictatorships and censorship, to free themselves from the ‘toxic barbarity’ that takes the breath away from our present days.” – Raffaella Viccei | Visioni del Tragico
French spoken | English & Dutch surtitles
Duration: 1 Hour with no intermission.
FOR MATA WITH LOVE
A new creation by Pé Vermeersch / Radical HeArts
A poetic dance theatre performance conceived and choreographed by Pé Vermeersch, created for and with Angela Babuin, and inspired by the legacy of Mata Hari.
For Mata with Love reflects on the enduring tension between freedom and social control, asking what is truly condemned when a woman refuses to conform. It is an ode to those who choose beauty over fear, movement over silence, and artistic freedom over conformity. It celebrates the body as a place of memory, transformation, and resistance, affirming that while a life may be extinguished, the dance continues...[READ MORE]
Multiple Languages Spoken | English surtitles
Duration: 1 Hour & 10 min with no intermission.
