Tristero is a Brussels-based theatre company, the artistic core being Cédric Coomans, Youri Dirkx and Peter Vandenbempt.

If you look at all Tristero productions, you will find them very diverse: incisive comedies and intriguing well-made plays (including work by Mike Leigh, David Hare and Martin Crimp), own adaptations of prose and own creative writing, but also movement theatre or a mix of one or more of these genres.

Tristero has a nose for less well known but interesting plays. They adapt them, making their own mark, and turn them into a theatre experience for a broad public, without turning it into mere entertainment. This results in intelligent and funny shows with a sharp edge.

Tristero has got a new place of its own, which it received on loan from the Flemish Community Commission (VGC) for the next few years, at Gallaitstraat 80 in Schaarbeek.
In Gallait 80, we invite several artists and residents (such as Lisa Matthys and Hanne Machielsen) to help shape the house and the stories that will be created there. Together we will make it into a workshop, a place of imagination, a meeting place and a playground. At Gallait 80, Tristero offers space and time for artists of all kinds to develop their work.

Tristero is supported by the Flemish community and by the Brussels Capital Region’s Flemish Community Commission.

Youri Dirkx studied acting at the Kleine Academie and has performed on stage mostly for Tristero, Dito’Dito and Théâtre Varia. He has also frequently worked with the artist Dora Garcia.
e-mail youri

Peter Vandenbempt studied Germanic philology and Theatre Studies at the University of Leuven, is co-founder of Tristero and works alongside Tristero with Kassys, Jérôme Bel and students of LUCA-Drama (Leuven) and RITCS (Brussels).
e-mail peter

Cédric Coomans (°1989) studied acting at the Conservatory of Liège. He is the co-founder of the group La Station. Alongside Tristero he works with Dries Gijsels, Ontroerend Goed.
e-mail cédric

we work at:
Gallaitstraat 80
B-1030 Schaerbeek

our office is at:
Square Sainctelette 19
B-1000 Bruxelles

manager Céline Pourveur
e-mail

artistic contact Peter Vandenbempt
+32 (0)477 78 73 62
e-mail

Several tracksTRISTERO stages different kinds of shows. Usually it starts off with being fascinated by a piece of writing, but it may also be a theme, a concept or an image. We make it our aim to research and to try out different styles.

A different repertoireTRISTERO is constantly on the lookout for new or unjustly neglected or rarely staged authors/plays. This is why we have staged several Flemish premières and new creations (including Altijd ’t zelfde, Locos and Play with Repeats). Moreover, we do not limit ourselves to plays; in the past we have also successfully adapted prose.

Humour is an important asset: intelligent, but not intellectual, accessible but not vulgar; first lurid, then subtle; gloomy, but never cynical; sometimes absurd. Occasionally we choose real comedies, but even when this is not the case, we try to draw out the comical elements. Laughter is cleansing, lets us put things and ourselves into perspective, and may be a means of enabling the audience to deal with the absurdity of life.

A collective – Each member of the artistic core is equally involved in the creative process: looking for or creating new texts, dramaturgy, developing and acting.

Brussels-based – Tristero is one of the few Dutch-speaking companies in Brussels. So we contribute to the diversity of what’s on offer in the capital. We have two substantial partners in Brussels: KVS and Kaaitheater. As a Brussels company we consider it important to build an audience in the French-speaking community and to interact with the French-speaking artistic scene (e.g. our collaboration with Transquinquennal and Énervé).