THEATER TO GO festival is dedicated to supporting emerging artists. Through info sessions, networking opportunities, and a chance to perform at our festival, we offer them the opportunity to reach a new audience.
In a theatre landscape where shrinking budgets are putting pressure on programming, it’s important to give new creators the chance to engage in dialogue with programmers. After all, what is unknown is unloved. Through a rigorous artistic selection process in an open call format, we aim to offer a second chance to projects that fall through the cracks. Performances created within a professional framework but that have only enjoyed a limited tour are given the chance to shine. At THEATER TO GO, you’ll find the cream of the crop of everything underappreciated.
The festival’s core team, consists of Jeff De Maeyer (he/him), Noé Lagaert (she/her), Ans Van Gasse (she/her/they), Maaike D’Aes (she/her), and Eva Mareen (she/her).
THEATER TO GO festival is made possible in part by the European Solidarity Corps, Jint, the City of Ghent, NTGent, the Minard schouwburg, Arca Theater, De Krook, Victoria Deluxe, Mestizo Arts Platform, and Good Company.
Eva Mareen
Eva Mareen (she/her) is a performer, actress/director, and singer. She studied Drama - Acting (Royal Conservatory of Antwerp) and has a Master’s degree in Education (RITCS Brussels).
She is founder of and performer with Trage Vaart, a collective whose mission is to make theatre more accessible. She is also a singer in the band Salmonella.
In addition, Eva has a background in organizing activities both within and outside the arts. For example, she volunteers at Hartekamp vzw and served as volunteer coordinator for the Toneelscholenfestival (2023).
For THEATER TO GO, Eva is responsible for overall coordination and budget management.
Noé Lagaert
Noé Lagaert (she/her) studied photography at KASK & Conservatorium in Ghent. In her artistic work, she focuses on the sense of belonging in relationships and places, and on everything that pushes the boundaries of those spaces. This interest in care, combined with a growing focus on organization and career development for emerging artists, led her to pursue a master’s degree in cultural management (University of Antwerp). She has also been involved with various youth initiatives, including “schoonvolk!” at MSK Ghent, where she coordinated and co-curated the exhibition “Alternatief Narratief.”
She completed a research internship at mentormentor (an artistic sounding board for photographers) as part of her master’s thesis on addressing the support needs of emerging photographers.
For THEATER TO GO, Noé handles the graphic design and productional support.
Ans Van Gasse
Ans Van Gasse
Ans Van Gasse (she/her/they/them) studied both Theater and Film Studies at the University of Antwerp and Creative Writing at RITCS. During her studies, she worked as a communications manager for participatory organizations such as DANSPUNT, De Figuranten, and PLATFORM-K.
Today, Ans is primarily a storyteller through words and images.
Ans provides the visuals for THEATER TO GO.
Maaike D'Aes
Maaike D’Aes (she/her) is an art and film scholar. She studied art history at Ghent University, majoring in performing arts and minoring in Gender and Diversity, and Visual Culture and Film Studies at the University of Antwerp.
She has already gained work experience at major international film festivals such as Film Fest Gent, the Ostend Film Festival, and JEF (the Antwerp Youth and Children’s Film Festival). Maaike currently works for the International Opera Academy. Time management, scheduling, Excel spreadsheets, and budgeting bring her genuine joy. Her artistic practice, therefore, primarily involves the practical organization of bringing art and people together.
For THEATER TO GO, Maaike provides productional support.
Jeff De Maeyer
Jeff De Maeyer (he/him) is a theatre director and writer. He earned an MSc in Ancient Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh and a bachelor’s degree as a teaching director from the Maastricht Theatre Academy.
He works primarily within his collective, Terreurwilg, with which he stages performances about climate and ecology. In his solo work, he experiments with interactive poetic forms and seeks ways to use text to inspire the audience to take concrete action. His texts have previously been published by De Nieuwe Toneelbibliotheek and RAMSDAM BOOKS.
For THEATER TO GO, Jeff is responsible for overall coordination.
Get to know the team behind THEATER TO GO festival!
Photo by Maurice Cassiers
Photo by Charlotte Daniëlse
Photo by Anna Perger
theatertogofestival@gmail.com
