No beauty for me there where human life is rare # 6

Since its first performances now 20 years ago Jan Lauwers’ theatre work with Needcompany has challenged the contemporary performing arts and provoked some of the best pieces of theatre criticism. No beauty for me there where human life is rare. On Jan Lauwers’ theatre work with Needcompany is the first collection of critical essays to appear about this prominent, Brussels-based but international company. It gathers texts by a variety of eminent writers working in different disciplines (theatre and performance studies, comparative literature, philosophy, cultural sociology) who take up the artistic, aesthetic and philosophical questions raised by Needcompany’s post-dramatic theatre. With contributions by such authorities as Hans-Thies Lehmann, Marvin Carlson, Martin Harries, Jürgen Pieters, Rudi Laermans, George Banu and many others this attractively illustrated collection should prove invaluable to everyone interested in Needcompany, its artistic context and the performing arts in general.