new work 2019
'What's new, what's new in our shaky state?' (Richard III, company III, scene 2) Ten king's dramas of William Shakespeare in one collage. Collaboration with theatre school Ensatt-Lyon | Premiere on 24th of June 2019. Site-specific performance. | French version
New translation of the original film scenario from 1943. A text about love and play. 'Your days are numbered, you are weighed and found too light, your kingdom is given to the Persians.' | Premiere: 4th of August 2019, Theatre aan Zee, Ostend (B). Site-specific performance. | Dutch & French version
repertoire 2019
Translation and adaptation of The Barber of Seville (1775) and The Marriage of Figaro (1784) by the French author Pierre August Caron Beaumarchais (1732-1799). Set to music by Rossini and Mozart – adulterated by Jonas Vermeulen. | Since 2014 | Dutch version | Coming soon to Boom, Mechlin (B).
Translation and adaptation of the 'Trilogie Marseillaise' by Marcel Pagnol (1895-1974). A minor marathon in the open air at the waterside, with a Mediterranean meal served in the interval. | Since 1999 | French version | Coming soon to La Rochelle, Andrézieux, Rennes, Lanester (F), Genève (CH).
'The Schpountz' (1936) with its 57 scenes and 34 characters, is a nonsensical farce and an ode to the actor. It details the resolution of a misunderstanding between a young, bigoted artist and a hardworking shopkeeper, in between the roquefort and the sausages. | Since 2012 | Dutch version
Translation and adaptation of 'Our Mutual Friend' (1865) written by Charles Dickens
(England, 1812-1870). A whodunit where no one is who they say they are, a kaleidoscope of fascinating figures, a vigorous indictment of what money does to us. | Since 2017 | Dutch version
A radically rewritten version of William Shakespeare’s 'Othello'.
Premiere: 8 November 2016, Kaaitheater, Brussels (BE).
A comedy where actors play cat and mouse with factory and theatre directors. And to cap it all, by the end their virtuoso acting turns outs to have been for nothing, umsonst!
Belgian premiere: 27 December 2015, Wintervuur, Antwerp (BE)
'A pound of flesh cut from your own body, and three caskets of gold, silver and lead.'
These singular elements form the basis for 'Shylock', a new play by Jan Decorte.
Premiere: November 2013, Kaaitheater, Brussels (BE).
This is a Comp.Marius radio adaptation of a book and TV programme from 1971 'A Dutchman discovers Flanders'.
Premiere: 2013, De Warande, Turnhout (BE)
Jan Decorte has rewritten ‘Much ado about nothing’ by the English bard William Shakespeare as a silly and scabrous play for five actors.
Premiere: 12 January 2012, Kaaitheater, Brussels (BE)
Translation and adaptation of the story of the same name for the young by Witold Gombrowicz, enhanced with fragments from his amazing diaries and with short narrative interludes by the Daniil Kharms.
Premiere: August 2011, Zomer van Antwerpen, Antwerp (BE)
New series of extracts read or acted in an evening halfway between a lively neighbourhood quiz and a play reading that gets out of hand.
Premiere: July 2010, Zomer van Antwerpen, Antwerp (BE)
New version of Bernhard's comedy on the idea that practice makes perfect.
New translation, different actors and hardly any stage set.
Premiere: May 2010, Scène Nationale de Sète - Balaruc-le-Vieux (FR)
The first version ('Force of habit') was created in 2003.
Modern version of William Shakespeare's 'A Winter's Tale'. Inspired by Shakespeare and Hölderlin, Jan Decorte has created a cheery performance about power, jealousy, despair, love and a little bird.
New translation and open-air staging of Beckett's ambiguous 1957 radioplay 'All That Fall'. A text with a tight structure and loose morals. Premiere Dutch version: June 2008, Oerol Festival, Terschelling (NL)
New translation of Samuel Beckett's 1962 near-monologue.
In association with 't Barre Land.
Premiere: March 2007, Grand Theater, Groningen (NL)
New translation of the 1972 classic by the American "King of Comedy" Neil Simon.
Premiere: October 2006, Comp.Marius scenery workshop, Hoboken (BE) | Premiere French version: December 2007, Théatre l'Athénée, Paris (FR)
Translation and adaptation of Marel Pagnol's 1952 film scenario 'Manon des sources' and of 'L'eau des collines', the novel he wrote 10 years later which recounts the same story.
A Provencal version of 'Crime and punishment' in the open air, with rabbit and prunes served in the interval. Since 2006
Adaptation of 'Spring' and seven stories from 'The Cinnamon Shops' (1933) by the Polish avant-garde writer Bruno Schulz.
Premiere French version: January 2005, SN Le Volcan, Le Havre (FR)
Premiere Dutch version: January 2006, deSingel (on location: Red Star Line hangars), Antwerp (B)
New translation of Thomas Bernhard's 1974 comedy 'Die Macht der Gewohnheit'.
Premiere: August 2003, Zomer van Antwerpen, Antwerp (BE)
Premiere French version: July 2004, Festival Paris Quartier d'été, Paris (FR)
Combination of two Oscar Wilde comedies: 'The Importance of Being Earnest' and 'An Ideal Husband'.
Premiere: February 2003, Theater Kikker, Utrecht (NL)
Selected for the Theatre Festival.
An evening at Le Lieu Unique in Nantes, unique in the sense of being a one-off: a debate with 1000 people from Nantes and 10 specialists, on the subject of 'What is art and why is it important?', in the form of a grand dinner for the people.
Premiere: 15 February 2003, Le Lieu Unique, Nantes (FR)
Series of new translations of extracts from (dramatic) writing on the theme of 'A History of Reading', a book by the Argentine essayist Alberto Manguel.
Adaptation of 'The Wedding' and 'History' (plays) and 'Ferdydurke' (novel) by the Polish avant-garde writer Witold Gombrowicz.
Premiere: 27 March 2001, Vooruit, Ghent (BE)
Premiere German version: 29 April 2001, Dortmund (DE)
Decorte's translation and staging of Anton Chekhov's classic 1887 play 'Ivanov'.
Premiere: October 2001, Kaaitheater, Brussels (BE)
Translation and adaptation of Jean Giono's 1929 short story 'Regain' and Marcel Pagnol's 1937 film scenario of the same name.
Premiere: July 2000, Zomer van Antwerpen, Hoboken (BE).
Premiere French version: September 2005, Aubagne (FR).
Premiere Spanish version: May 2005, Madrid (ES).
Jan Decorte's version of 'Oedipus' by the classical Greek playwright Euripides.
Premiere: 22 September 1999, Kaaitheater, Brussels (BE)
A turbo-charged adaptation of all Shakespeare's History Plays, performed in twenty minutes.
A living pamphlet with the motto 'Watch out, your sword is going rusty!'
Premiere: September 1998, Vooruit, Ghent (BE)
Adaptation of the pamphleteering Russian play 'Don Quixote', on freedom and making choices, supplemented with extracts from Miguel Cervantes' original.
Premiere: June 1998, Kattendijkdok, Antwerp (BE), in the pouring rain.
Translation and adaptation of the story of the same name for the young by Witold Gombrowicz, enhanced with fragments from his amazing diaries and with short narrative interludes by Daniil Kharms.
Premiere: 1997, Victoria, Ghent (BE)
German premiere: 1998, Hamburg (DE)
Translation and adaptation for three actors of Molière's 'Le Misanthrope'.
Premiere: October 1997, Monty, Antwerp (BE)
Adaptation of Shakespeare's anti-bourgeois play on growing up (parts I and II).
Premiere: 1997, Frascati, Amsterdam (NL)
Selected for the Theatre Festival 1998, winner of the public prize.
Adaptation of Brecht's 'The Life of Galilee', supplemented with extracts from Woody Allen, Rudolf Steiner and Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Premiere: 1996, Monty, Antwerp (BE)
Translation of Lorca's five-act play, preceded by Shakespeare's prologue 'Venus and Adonis'.
Premiere: Monty, Antwerp (B), 1995
Adaptation of all Shakespeare's History Plays in conjunction with final-year students at the Theatre School in Arnhem.
Premiere: June 1995, theatre school, Arnhem (NL)
Adaptation of the play by Witold Gombrowicz.
Premiere: 1995, Beursschouwburg, Brussels (BE)
(special performance as part of 'Sputnik')
Special performance as part of 'Maten: two weeks at LantarenVenster'.
Premiere: 1995, LantarenVenster, Rotterdam (NL)
Translation and adaptation for four actors of the 1787 play 'Don Carlos'.
Premiere: 1995, Monty, Antwerp (BE)
Adaptation of the epilogue from Grunberg's novel Rattewit and play The Days of Leopold Mangelmann.
Premiere: January 1995, Monty, Antwerp (BE) - special performance
Translation and adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Measure for Measure'.
Premiere: 17 March 1994, Monty, Antwerp (BE)
Premiere: 10 augustus 1993, Augustijnercentrum 93, Antwerp
Adaptation of the anti-war novel 'Mazurka for Two Dead Men' by the Spanish winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.
Premiere: 23 March 1993, STUK, Leuven (BE)
Translation of Goethe's 1803 work 'Die natürliche Tochter'.
Premiere: January 1993, STUK, Leuven (BE)
Adaptation of 'Ivanov' by Anton Tsjechov.
Premiere: January 9, 1992, Toneelschuur, Haarlem (NL)
Production together with Maatschappij Discordia, tg STAN and Dito'Dito.
Première: 21 june 1992, Toneelschuur, Haarlem (NL)
Translation and adaptation of the short story by Witold Gombrowicz, from the collection 'Memoirs from a Time of Immaturity'.
Premiere: 15 October 1991, Toneelschuur, Haarlem (NL)