Cifas and La Bellone are co-producing one of the seminars in the Dramaturgy Practices cycle: aka SiDOGS - towards pirate dramaturgy by bruna bonanno.

What happens when dramaturgy is hacked by a crew of pirates? How are resources redistributed amongst the crew? What must one risk in terms of one’s own reputation to create the material conditions for egalitarianism – aka equal socio-economic opportunities? What does the treasure map represent today? What is a map? What is the treasure?

aka SiDOGS is a writing project for the live stage. These dogs without masters or gods, who roam the seas and the land, whom Western tradition (aka that part of the world which adopts English as the language of both the king and capital) refers to as “pirates”. Beyond flags and fabrics, beyond the page and the stage, aka beyond north and south, aka SiDOGS will (de)structure itself in the form of one or more geographical maps, aka treasure maps. These will explore the pirate treasure, its material forms and perspectives – aka the actions that enable it to be found, kept and redistributed? – aka how does one become a pirate on dry land?

Around the table: the history of piracy, pirate codes, anarchist theories, local currencies, maritime economy… to write together a scene that places Brussels amongst the places in the world where SiDOGS can meet – a dramaturgy map to track them down and indicate the coordinates where they can come together – contrary, stubborn, lucid, aka pirates.

bruna bonanno

bruna bonanno (Catania, 1997) is a playwright and political philosophy researcher focussing on dramaturgy practices engaged with radical democracy and salt water. She is co-founder of Salmastra, an interdisciplinary collective working with the fishing community in Sicily, and a member of PERLa – the Performance Epistemologies Research Lab at the IUAV University of Venice, where she is a teaching assistant in dramaturgy. She has recently been a visiting researcher at ARIA at the University of Antwerp, at the Public Exchange Bureau at Deakin University in Melbourne, at St John’s University with Steve Mentz in New York, and at S:PAM at Ghent University. Her latest dramaturgical project was recently awarded a prize at the Venice Theatre Biennale 2025.

Feral Pirate

This invitation to bruna bonanno follows on from her contribution to Feral 2026, Cifas’ annual festival. For this event, she produced SPY_BOOK(S)LET, a zine compiling texts and images gathered during her research into pirate dramaturgy.

This zine is online, in the Cifasotheque: here.

Dramaturgy Practices cycle

La Bellone is back with its 2027 cycle of seminars in Dramaturgy Practices.

The role of the dramaturg has established itself as an essential component of the performing arts landscape. Yet spaces dedicated to it — both as a practice and as a field of research — remain few.

What is the role of a dramaturg? Why call upon one? And above all, how is this role practised today in contexts as varied as stage production, institutional settings or the making of art works?

At La Bellone, dramaturgy is conceived and practised as an experience of dialogue and experimentation. It does not aim to impose intellectual authority, but to cultivate a sensitivity to artistic gestures, to what is woven between ideas, forms and relationships. The dramaturg offers neither artistic advice nor theoretical lessons: they support the creative process by opening up avenues, sharing resources and suggesting possible interpretations of what is unfolding, on stage, in text or within working relationships. Dramaturgy is thus seen as a practice of conversation, an art of circulating visions, ideas and needs.

La Bellone’s seminars invite participants to practise dramaturgy through a series of experiments, discussions and simulations. Rather than presenting a narrative or a theory of dramaturgy, the programme aims to enable each participant to refine their approach, strengthen their practice and situate their way of working within a constantly evolving field.

For whom ?

People with experience as dramaturges, beginner or confirmed.

The seminar will be held in French.

Applications

Applications must be sent to mylene@bellone.be by midnight on 19 November 2026.

They must include:

• an email describing your motivations and specifying the seminar(s) you wish to attend (maximum 2 pages)

• a summary of your background or a short biography, relating to your work as a dramaturg (maximum 2 pages)

Those applying to several seminars will be selected in priority.

Confirmation of the applicants December.

Conditions

Free.

Participants must be present during the whole seminar.

The other two seminars are subject to a fee: €150 per seminar. To ensure these seminars remain accessible, financial assistance may be granted upon request. If necessary, please contact La Bellone so that we can assess your situation.

For information on the other seminars in the cycle: click here