Gregory Caers
Theatre Director and Curator
“Art can change the world, as long as everyone can take part in it.”
I believe deeply that art can contribute to a more conscious, resilient and connected society. Not as a grand gesture, but through participation, attention and shared experience. Taking part in a creative process — or allowing oneself the time to witness its outcome — is a way of pausing, of reflecting on questions that everyday life rarely makes space for.
Art has the capacity to strengthen people: it can offer courage when we realise we are not alone in our struggles; it can bring comfort to deeply rooted grief; it can ignite rebellion, commitment or a sense of grounding. For many, especially those who choose not to engage with religion or formal spirituality, art is one of the few remaining platforms that can generate genuine connection — across generations, cultures and borders.
This belief underpins my work as a curator, coach and director. Whether I work with young artists, students, professional ensembles or communities, my focus lies in creating accessible yet demanding artistic spaces: spaces where people feel invited to participate, to question, and to grow in confidence and critical awareness. I am drawn to practices that place people at the centre and that understand art not as an isolated product, but as a shared human process with the potential to change how we see ourselves and each other.
My Work as a Curator & Coach
Artistic guidance, research-driven practice and working with emerging artists
My work as a curator and coach is rooted in long-term engagement with young and emerging artists. Since 2021, as curator of Jonge Harten Festival, I have been developing programmes that prioritise artistic urgency, experimentation and authorship. I create contexts in which artists are not only presented, but actively supported in reflecting on their work, articulating their position and developing sustainable artistic practices.
Across curatorial, educational and institutional settings, I work as a facilitator of artistic research and collective inquiry. My approach combines close artistic guidance with a strong belief in horizontal learning: creating spaces where makers are challenged, trusted and encouraged to take responsibility for their own methodologies. I am particularly interested in moments of transition — graduation, early professionalisation, or reorientation — where focused coaching and dialogue can make a decisive difference.
Institutions and festivals collaborate with me for my ability to connect artistic practice, pedagogy and context, and for my calm, attentive and precise way of working with artists and students.
Theatre & Opera Work - Director
International practice, collective creation and physical performance
As a theatre and opera director, I work internationally across theatre houses, festivals and opera institutions. My practice is strongly process-driven and centres on physical performance, ensemble work and non-hierarchical creation methods. I often work with large groups of performers and in interdisciplinary contexts, where collective dynamics and shared authorship play a central role.
Over the past years, I have created work in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and beyond, including large-scale projects in collaboration with conservatories, theatre and dance academies, and professional ensembles. These projects frequently bridge professional production and education, allowing performers and students to engage with demanding artistic processes within institutional frameworks.
What defines my directing work is a focus on clarity, trust and intensity: creating conditions in which performers can fully inhabit a shared artistic language. Theatre houses and opera institutions engage me for my experience in guiding complex creative processes, my sensitivity to group dynamics, and my ability to translate artistic research into strong, communicative performances.
Theatre and Dance - Performances
Opera Performances
Opera & Large-Scale Participatory Work
Since 2016, my work within Opera Forward Festival at the Dutch National Opera & Ballet has focused on creating research-driven performances in close collaboration with students from conservatories, theatre and dance academies, as well as young musicians and choirs. These projects explore how opera can function as a living, adaptable form — one that resonates with contemporary experiences while remaining embedded in a professional institutional context.
Each project develops through collective investigation rather than a fixed concept. Physical exploration, dialogue and ensemble work form the basis of a shared artistic language in which participants actively shape both process and outcome. This approach allows young performers to encounter opera not as a closed tradition, but as a space for experimentation, authorship and critical engagement.
In March 2025, this practice culminated in Codes, a large-scale performance created for the celebration of 750 years of Amsterdam. Bringing together students, young professionals and community participants, the work functioned as a performative research into shared codes of movement, behaviour and belonging in an urban context. Conceived as a living system rather than a fixed composition, Codesreflects an ongoing interest in collective structures, participatory creation and the translation of artistic research into accessible yet demanding public performances.
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Nevski Prospekt — International Theatre for Young Audiences
Between 2011 and 2022, my work with Nevski Prospekt centred on the creation of physical, non-verbal theatre for young audiences. The company was founded as a collaborative platform, bringing together performers and creators in a shared exploration of movement, rhythm and collective storytelling. Language was deliberately reduced, allowing the work to travel across cultures and to speak directly through the body.
Over the course of eight productions — developed through ensemble-based and research-driven processes — the work toured internationally and engaged audiences across Europe, Asia and Africa. Collaborations with festivals and theatres in Denmark, Norway, Austria, Japan, South Korea, South Africa and Taiwan shaped an artistic practice that was deeply informed by international exchange and cultural context.
What defined this period was a sustained commitment to accessibility without simplification. The performances addressed young audiences as thoughtful and perceptive viewers, inviting them into layered, physically driven worlds that foregrounded imagination, collective experience and emotional resonance. This practice continues to inform my approach to directing, curating and mentoring: treating young audiences and emerging artists as full artistic partners, and understanding theatre as a shared space for attention, curiosity and connection.
M of Macbeth 2012 - Gent (B)
Bevaegelse 2017 - Horsens (DK)
Metro Boulot Dodo 2015 - Gent (B)