Antwerp theatre group BATS stages new play ‘Emissaries’ 25 to 27 April

As Antwerp’s only English-speaking theatre group, BATS is proving its originality by putting on a play with a difference from 25 to 27 April.

Emissaries is written by BATS chairman Adrian Veale and tells three stories of English expatriates who have been sent to Antwerp at different times throughout history.

While recounting their individual narratives, it also raises questions about their various experiences.

• Saint Willibrordus is one of many Anglo-Saxon missionaries sent from England in the seventh century to the Low Countries to convert the pagans. What else was on his agenda? And whose agenda was it, actually?
• Aphra Behn is a successful playwright in 1670s London. She looks back on her stay in Antwerp in 1666. But why was she actually here?
• A fictional young record company executive arrives in Antwerp in the summer of 1969 to sign up local talent to a major British label. Or was there something else he had to do, too?

“The three stories just sort of came to me when I thinking about Antwerp’s historical links with England,” says Veale, who explains that the club’s membership is about one-third English mother-tongue expats and two thirds Antwerpenaars or other residents speaking English as a second or third language.

“So the idea was to stage a play that’s about both – the expats and the hosts. And actually it’s about BATS (and even bats, too!),” he adds.

Emissaries provides insight into three different periods of the city’s history. It looks at life in the seventh century while portraying the mission of one of the first historians of England - the Venerable Bede. The play also considers why were there so many English people in Antwerp in the mid-1660s and it reflects on the mindset of people in the summer of 1969. Audiences will have the chance to meet The Pebbles, the would-be Belgian Beatles and discover who were the De Koninck sisters.

The play is also an opportunity to discover stories of ordinary people trying to get their own show on the road, or break through into recognition and stardom.

As a melting pot of role play, spin-doctoring, intrigue, betrayal, international politics, love stories and cautionary tales, Emissaries is a love song to theatre. And it’s an ode to Antwerp and the expats it welcomes.

Tickets cost €17 for adults; €15 for students & over 65s.

Emissaries
Friday 25 April & Saturday 26 April, 20.00
27 April 15.00
Klokhuistheater
Parochiaanstraat 4-4A
Antwerp