‘Show in a box’ puts audiences in charge at Leeds Playhouse

Handle With Care, which comes to the Bramall Rock Void at Leeds Playhouse from 27-28 March, is a thrilling theatrical experience from Belgian collective Ontroerend Goed, which has been pushing the boundaries of theatre for nearly 25 years.

When the company premiered its new production in October 2025, it opened simultaneously in eight locations across six countries, including Glasgow, Melbourne and Göteborg. This time around, Leeds Playhouse is one of eight UK locations taking delivery of a ‘show in a box’ to share with audiences.

Ontroerend Goed don’t perform themselves; the show is entirely in the hands of the audience – they are the storytellers, the actors and the directors. The Playhouse receives the box by post, places it on stage, and then leaves the audience to discover and create the story together with the help of prompt cards, questions, instructions and objects.

For those who prefer to stay seated, you don’t have to actively participate if you don’t want to. Ontroerend Goed prides itself on making participatory theatre for people who don’t like participatory theatre.

This project is part of a trilogy that Alexander Devriendt, artistic director of Ontroerend Goed, titles An Hour Spent With Others. “After Funeral, where we explore new mourning rituals, and Thanks for Being Here, an ode to the audience, we entrust the entire performance to the spectators in Handle With Care. This time we fully embrace the collective aspect of that experience: the communal, the connection. And it’s wonderful that there’s no one there to see it, except the audience themselves.”

Starting back in October, Handle With Care is being performed more than 220 times in 9 languages across 14 different countries throughout the 2025-26 season. Don’t expect pre-made scenes or a script that precisely dictates when to enter and exit. The performance emerges from the personal input of the audience and is therefore unique each time.

NUMBER CRUNCHING  

• Boxes: 220 in this first season, each performed by 45 people.
• UK venues: the show will be performed in 8 locations, including Glasgow, Salford, Plymouth, Cambridge, London, Watford, Warwick & Leeds.
• Languages: the boxes have been created in 9 different languages: Dutch, French, English, German, Italian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Croatian, and Korean. Only the Cantonese and Mandarin boxes are locally produced; all the others were made and assembled in Belgium.  
• Countries: Handle with Care is running in 14 countries – Australia, Belgium, China, Germany, France, Croatia, India, Italy, South Korea, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Sweden, UK, and the United States.

Handle With Care plays at Leeds Playhouse 27-28 March. Tickets are available here.