DE SMAAKMAKERIJ - FLAVORIA

Alibi has already had its own workplace with a small theatre close to Brussels’ North station since June 1993. This is where the productions are made and are first shown to organisers and a limited audience. For years everyone knew this workplace under the name De Smaakmakerij, referring to the laboratory of the former flavouring factory, Universal Flavours, that used to occupy the building.

Tastes and aromas were developed there: fires were kindled and broths brewed, tastelessness spiced up and bad taste concealed. In other words, taste was added to what was plain. And that is exactly what the Alibi Collective is concerned with too, and for which this space turned out to be perfectly suited.

Over the years that Alibi has rented this building, it has been turned into a theatre laboratory with the most intimate little theatre in Brussels. It is a think-tank, a workspace and a treasure trove; a place where kindred spirits meet and to which the public is welcomed.
It is also something of a Winter Haven where one can catch one’s breath after tours of Belgium and abroad. Because Alibi is in the first place a travelling collective that spends much of the year performing elsewhere. Mostly in Flanders, but a least a quarter of the shows are abroad, at festivals or in theatres that have forged a trusting relationship with the collective over the years.

The first and last nights are of course always reserved for our Brussels audience. In recent years the first series of performances of every new production has been put on in this theatre of our own. The last series of every production is shown there too.

On 16th December 2005 the name of De Smaakmakerij was changed to Flavoria. On the one hand to celebrate the collective’s 15th anniversary, on the other to give the workplace a more international name. The Flavoria Fronton was also specially designed for it: a sort of mobile Alibi Arc de Triomphe to add allure to the facade in Vooruitgangstraat when new productions are shown.

In this way the public will always have to pass through the Flavoria entrance to discover the Alibi world beyond it. The Flavoria Fronton is an installation in itself; a three-dimensional video wall comprising several video screens, including a door with a handle and keyhole!

In fact Flavoria is more of an abstract concept than a location in the North Brussels district. The Alibi for our collective!