detheatermaker

Bavo Buys (they/them), theatre maker and actor, graduated from KASK (Ghent) in June 2024 and had already been awarded Playright+, a prize for final-year students who have distinguished themselves. During their internship in Luanda Casella’s Elektra Unbound, Bavo clearly stood out for their exceptional craft and presence on the big stage. During the same period, they appear in the feminist comedy Up Your Ass (Nona Demey Gallagher & Lieselot Siddiki) and are nominated for the Actors’ Guild Theatre Award in the under-35 category. Their graduation performance Planet Winter is based on the science fiction classic The Left Hand of Darkness (1969). Bavo plays while creating and creates while playing. Their work is a web of references to both new media and classical texts, creating an immersive universe with sharp language, aligned physicality and dynamic play. The common thread in their practice is the idea of the boundless, genderless performer.

In Wild Narcissus, Bavo Buys introduces their new alter ego Narcissus. The performance blends plot, documentary, personal confessions and social media in a critical and manipulative solo that both denounces and celebrates our narcissistic society. Wild Narcissus shows the ephemeral and devastating power of youth, beauty and self-preservation.
Inspired by, among other things, the myth of Narcissus, the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray and alter egos in contemporary pop culture (think: Sasha Fierce, Ziggy Stardust…), Bavo explores the evil in human beings for the first time in his own theatre production. In September 2025, Bavo won the Sabam Prize at the Theatre Festival with this project.

Wild Narcissus will premiere during the 2025-2026 season (29 and 30 May at VIERNULVIER, Ghent).

Photo: Anna Perger