About BATMAT

BATMAT stands for visual and physical theatre for young audiences. We start from insecurities and question marks we bump into in our adult lives. When we take a closer look at these, they always seem to be part of a larger social theme. In wondering when those insecurities began, these moments can actually almost always be traced back to our childhood. So what we are experiencing and feeling now, starts already at an early age. Only, at a young age, those uncomfortable moments feel like the reality you just have to live with. We try to translate this parallel between 'then' and 'now' into performances, in which we tackle the themes with sensitivity, but at the same time expose their humour. The performances are always very physical and expressive, supported by voice, but don’t contain

theatre text. From different disciplines, we search for a language that can be understood by everyone. We find this 'universal language' necessary in an increasingly diverse society. Unbridled imagination and fantasy to order the world is an important factor in connecting us with today's youth.

 

BATMAT emerged organically out of the artistic collaboration of four young creators: Carli Gellings, Heleen Desmet, Sabien Van Moorter and Silke Verslype. Out of a great curiosity to develop a common physical and visual language echoing and blending the different backgrounds of the performers, they made their first performance THIS SIDE UP. After this, the desire grew to give the successful collaboration a sustainable character and to continue working as collective makers. For the new performance BOK, Charlotte Wellens, Laure-Anne Iserief and Paloma Timmerman Neira supplement the team of performers.