On Thursday, SPRING Performing Arts Festival opened with a double bill by South Korean maker Sung Im Her. In the festival's opening statement, artistic director Grzegorz Reske, accompanied by Mayor Dijksma, stated how a world in crisis calls for artists who pause, analyse and critique. In a sold-out main hall of the Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, Sung Im Her did just that with two powerful choreographies about resilience and excess.
In the break of the double bill, artistic director Reske expresses his hopes for SPRING 2026 in his opening remarks:
“I wish you and myself that this festival becomes a ritual of searching for disruptive frictions - a moment when we can look into the (often painful) past to imagine a better future, while anchoring us firmly in the present. Space for inspiration to find ourselves and each other in this time of uncertainty, fear and anger.”
MORE TO SEE AT THE FESTIVAL
On Sunday 17 May, Dutch Brussels-based creator Khadija El Kharraz Alami Back at SPRING festival with its first major production SHRINE, an immersive theatre performance in which grief, anger and resistance come together in a ritual space.
Island Bar from orangcosong & guests is a storytelling performance in several Utrecht cafés from 21 to 23 May. At the bar, migrants will serve you a personal cocktail mixed with their own history and identity.
Toshiki Okada, one of the most important playwrights and directors in contemporary Japan, is back in Utrecht on 21 May with a new collaboration. With Hana Sakai, former soloist with the National Ballet of Japan, he presents Giselle: A Summary, a fresh perspective on the ballet tradition.
Friday 22 May, two leading Asian creators meet on the main stage of the Stadsschouwburg in SoftMachine: The Return. Surjit and Rianto explore in a mix of dance, documentary and monologue how their bodies and countries have evolved; from political resilience in India to the complexity of gender in Indonesia.
The festival closes on 23 May with the Dutch premiere of Everything Must Go. The iconic British collective Forced Entertainment has been exploring how pop culture and digital technologies are affecting our society for more than 40 years. During SPRING 2026, they will present Everything Must Go: with AI voices and tight lip-sync, the show explores how technology and our society evoke desires in us, and how they relate to what we ourselves really want.
The festival can still be visited until Saturday 23 May at various locations in Utrecht. For the full programme, visit springutrecht.nl
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