Robby Cleiren

Robby Cleiren (°1971) started in 1994 after graduating from the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp along with fellow students Sara De Bosschere, Luc Nuyens and Sofie Sente de Roovers: an Antwerp theatre collective made up of four actors and producers. They never work with a director: every creative process is a joint search for a story that needs to be told at that moment. The actors immerse themselves in spoken-word theatre, bending to their will the classic repertoire of playwrights including Shakespeare, Chekhov and Aeschylus, or set to work with contemporary writers such as Paul Auster and Judith Herzberg. Although they might equally well make children’s theatre or venture into musical theatre. Photographer and stage designer Stef Stessel, who was part of the De Roovers project from the start, undoubtedly contributed to the typical De Roovers style.

He took part in productions of plays including Maria Stuart, A View from the Bridge, All My Sons, Alcestis, Blue Remembered Hills, Uncle Vanya, Oresteia, Timon of Athens and The Iceman Cometh.

Cleiren has acted with other theatre companies too, such as Tg STAN (The Monkey Trial, De Kersentuin [The Cherry Orchard], Zomergasten and Bedrog), KVS (Rusland voor Beginners, Van Plato tot Nato, Als dan), De Kakkewieten (Universal Irritant, De Ingebeelde Grieken, W@=d@ Mexico, Impossible Im Apocalypse Wauw), CREW (Terra Nova), Exiles (F=ma) NTG (Het Wijde Land), Kaaitheater (Maria Salomé), de Onderneming (Het Dikke Schrift, Het Bewijs, ça va), Malpertuis (De Bezoeker) and De Tijd (Voorjaarsontwaken).

He has acted in films including The Broken Circle Breakdown and De Helaasheidheid der dingen (Felix van Groeningen), Dirty Mind and Linkeroever (Pieter van Hees), Een ander zijn geluk (Fien Troch), Het Vonnis (Jan Verheyen), Les Cowboys (Thomas Bidegain) and television series including Marsman, Clan, Cordon and Deadline 14/10.

He teaches at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp.