Based at the Ferme Rose in Uccle/Ukkel, Théâtre du Ratinet emerged out of Théâtre de l’Enfance, which was founded in the 1960s. This company’s original base was the Théâtre Royal de Toone/Koninklijk Poppentheater Toone in the centre of Brussels. In 1975, two of its actors, Anne Mauffroy and Claude Valère, left the city centre and moved to the Ferme Rose, taking with them in their suitcases the puppets Bonhommet and Tilapin as well as a new character: a little rat who would come to be known as ‘Ratinet’, from whom the current theatre takes its name.
The theatre performs its own wide-ranging repertoire of puppet shows aimed primarily at toddlers, as well as dreamers young and old. For the past 25 years, the troupe of puppeteers led by Nathalie De Roeck and Jean-Michel Distexhe has been telling stories featuring a recurring cast of characters, including Ratinet, and plenty of audience participation. These fun, light-hearted, cheeky and burlesque shows are all original two-part plays, each part lasting 20 to 25 minutes, with a 10-minute intermission.