Inne Goris

Inne Goris graduated from the Maastricht Theatre Academy in 1997 with the performance Niet in staat tot slechte dingen. After a stint at BRONKS as an educational assistant and a job as a dramaturge with Ultima Vez (Wim Vandekeybus), she founded her own company, ZEVEN. This word/verb (which can mean either ‘seven’, or ‘to sieve’) is the driving force behind Inne Goris’ work. She actively searches for the remnants of a greater whole, for the essence of things, aiming to render visible that which is hidden. This results in quirky performances that balance on the delicate boundaries between art, theatre and dance. Her creations take you to another world, alive with pent-up emotions, stimulating images and movements. This is theatre that doesn’t always have to make sense, but which is intended to surprise, and may be subversive.

Inne Goris premiered Zeven under the auspices of BRONKS, and it was from this point that she really came into her own. This production marked the beginning of her progress as a theatre-maker. Drie Zusters (2003), her company ZEVEN’s first production, is loosely based on Chekhov’s classic Three Sisters. The performance won the 1000Watt prize for the most striking performance for children and young people created in Flanders and the Netherlands. Pride and Prejudice (2004) was also nominated for the 1000Watt prize. De dood en het meisje (2005), based on Schubert’s string quartet Death and the Maiden, was a visual and musical creation about absence, acted by six teenage girls. La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes (2006), based on the novel by Gaétan Soucy, was ZEVEN’s first creation for adults. Naar Medeia (2008) and Nachtevening (2009), both based on the story of Medea, were also aimed at an older audience.

Since 2009, Inne Goris has also created various productions under the auspices of LOD, including Nachtevening (2009), Judaspassie (2009), Muur (2010), Droomtijd (2011), Vader, Moeder, Ik en Wij (2011) and Hoog Gras (2012) – those last five productions all in collaboration with Dominique Pauwels. Here too she continues on the same path, serving up theatre that the audience can taste with all its senses.

In 2013, Inne Goris was a guest with several of her productions at the Manchester International Festival along with LOD. Zigzag Zigzag (2013) also premiered there, and went on to tour Belgium in 2014, where it was selected by the children’s jury for the 2014 Theatre Festival. In 2015, Snow (4+), premiered, her first collaboration with Thomas Smetryns. In 2016 she worked again with Dominique Pauwels for Without Blood, after the novel by Alessandro Barrico. In 2017 remade the production for children Droesem (from 2007-2008). From 2017, hetpaleis Antwerp also supports the work of Inne. The installation performance House was the first coproduction by LOD & hetpaleis, which premiered in 2018. For Ophelia in 2021, a co-production by LOD, hetpaleis and Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Inne went in search of stories about first love. In 2022, Inne Goris premiered The Girl, the Hunter and the Wolf, a collaboration with composer Vasco Mendonça and writer Gonçalo M. Tavares in co-production with LOD and National Opera & Ballet.

In November 2023, Inne Goris presents the playful LOD production Hink Stap Spring together with composer Thomas Smetryns and author Pieter Delfosse. It is a unique collaboration between children and adults, as young and old go all the way together: from the text to the music, from the technique to the photography. The result is a joint quest for growing up, being a child, being the boss and setting boundaries.