Elfriede Jelinek wrote Die Schutzbefohlenen in 2013 as a reaction to the increasingly desperate refugee problem in Europe. Her text has proved to be more than prophetic: all the images that are now burnt into our memories she minutely calls to life years before the actual events. Guy Cassiers matches Jelinek’s torrent of words with images and with four dancers in a choreography by Maud Le Pladec.

A philanthropist – one who still genuinely believes in progress – builds a ship. However much like a fable it may seem, Pieter De Buysser’s planetarium production was inspired by contemporary socio-political realities. Take a chance on this border exploration for nationalists, homeland research for cosmopolitans, and cosmology of a new worldview.

In Cinema Dialogue, Monika Gintersdorfer and Knut Klaßen critically examine the United Nations’ ostensibly apolitical Millennium Development Goals. They juxtapose the universalism of the UN programme with the local reality of urban development in Kinshasa between 2000 and the present day.

Caspar Western Friedrich combines the narrative force of the Western with the dreamy longings of Romanticism. Drawing his inspiration from the lonesome cowboy and from the paintings and personality of Caspar David Friedrich, Philippe Quesne builds a studio of landscapes on stage.

This brand new production directed by Ivo Van Hove is based on Leoš Janácek’s song cycle that goes by the same name. The result of Janácek’s inspired efforts is a mysterious, deeply emotional and psychological piece on identity, alienation, and an impossible love. Annelies Van Parys – one of the most acclaimed Belgian composers of our time – adds a fi tting contemporary reply.

In times of declarations of war, the revival of nationalistic thinking and an excess of extreme, simplistic solutions, the French-Austrian theatre collective Superamas offers fresh points of view. Vive l’Armée ! is a reflection on war, violence, propaganda and nationalism, based on the familiar Superamas recipe – a continuously interlinked mix of storylines.

A prostitute in a North African country during the Arab Spring immerses you in the everyday drag of clients who come and go. Rachid Benzine – Europe’s great herald of enlightened Islam – wrote the text for the Palestinian film actress Hiam Abbass. Director Ruud Gielens opted for a staging that is as restrained as it is intense. After its première last season – two days after the Brussels attacks – it is time to reprise the production.

Jan Fabre shatters Greek tragedy with violence, ecstasy and Homeric laughter. For 24 hours, a maelstrom of images carries you off to a different, labyrinthine time. Climb the mountain – together with 27 performers covering four generations – and become part of this monumental happening.