The Mickery Theatre: a history

In December 1965 Dutch theatre producer and director Ritsaert ten Cate staged Johnny Speight's If There Weren't Any Blacks You'd Have to Invent Them in a farmhouse in Loenersloot, 17 kilometres outside Amsterdam, then later that month An Evening with Nina Simone... Thus began the Mickery Theatre / producing its own performances, inviting guests that in 1966 included the Traverse Workshop from Edinburgh and in 1967 Ellen Stewart's La Mama with Tom Paine, Part One and Bread and Puppets with Fire from the USA. Over the next twenty-five years Mickery would become the most important location in Europe for the production and staging of experimental/alternative/ 'new' theatre, and ten Cate one of its most influential and revered advocates.

Mickery was particularly important for staging the performances, and helping legitimise the work of, a number of British companies and individuals, a function acknowledged and accommodated by the Arts Council of Great Britain at that time. These included The People Show (and its members such as film-maker Mike Figgis) and the Pip Simmons Group, both of which appeared for the first time in 1969; Freehold (Antigone, Duchess of Malfi 1970); Low Moan Spectacular; Portable Theatre; Joint Stock; Gay Sweatshop; 7:84; Ken Campbell...In 1973, the Investigator appeared with seminal physical theatre group RAT Theatre at the Mickery; in 1989, close to the end of its life, Mickery co-produced Brith Gof's large-scale site-specific performance Gododdin in an ice-hockey stadium in Lleuwarden.

In 1972 Mickery moved to permanent premises in the Rozen Theatre in central Amsterdam, a venue that included a 'black box' studio for 250 spectators and a small upstairs theatre for 40. Here ten Cate not only continued to received and present touring companies including performances by Squat Theatre (Hungary) and the notorious Tenjo Sajiki (Japan) but also to play and increasing role in their production. He was a key influence in the development of the Pip Simmons Group: Dracula (1974), An Die Musik (1975), The Masque of the Red Death (1977) were all produced and premiered in Mickery.

Mickery became the principal venue for presenting new American theatre in Europe / 120 productions in all over 25 years: from the work of Chaikin's Open Theatre and Richard Foreman to Mabou Mines (6 productions); the Wooster Group (11 productions); Theatre X; Meredith Monk; John Jesurun; Ping Chong; Spalding Gray; Peter Sellars...And for nurturing the European and regional practices that ensued: Jan Fabre; Jan Lauwers's Needcompany...

ten Cate's curatorial practice gave Mickery its specific flavour and meaning, effectively establishing a movement through his aesthetic choices. Theatre makers had to adapt to the way in which Ritsaert ten Cate thought about theatre, its evolution and its significance in relation to society. Purposeful, consistent and persevering... His own productions adopted the post-dramatic characteristics of the work that passed through Mickery; and he became a major instigator of European networks of venues and producers.

This application for research leave is to complete a substantial written contribution to, and to collaborate in the editing of, a co-authored volume at the prestigious invitation of the Netherlands Theatre Institute in Amsterdam; NTI houses the Mickery archive including important video recordings of productions as well as documentation, correspondence, critical articles etc. This will be the first major assessment in English of the work of Mickery and the role of ten Cate in fostering alternative practices frequently under-regarded in histories of European theatre. It will be the central component of a research project that will culminate in 2010 with a film, exhibition, radio broadcasts and further academic reflection.

This opportunity places the investigator's scholarship within a European context and should greatly enhance his reputation and standing in the disciplinary field.