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Almost had Halbe Zijlstra praising a drummer as a figurehead of our literature

Nice, that secretary of state of hard rock and Tom Clancy. Mr Halbe Zijlstra-san has once again lived up to his change manager name in China. But in a slightly different way. In the land of eternally sealed mouths, he opened the Dutch stand at the book fair there, with a speech that once again rammed Dutch values into the Chinese. Anyway... 

Finally answers pressing questions from theatre history

Ever known that 'The Wedding of Kloris and Roosje' was first performed in 1707, and that it is the forerunner of today's New Year's Eve conference? Thanks to the theatre encyclopaedia, which will be available online from 1 September, these and many more facts can be found. The Theaterinstituut Nederland (TIN) is the initiator and provides much of the content of... 

Absent presence as substitute for stolen image

Every disadvantage has its advantage: Whoever steals a sculpture from a public garden frees up space for a new work of art. Residents of Utrecht's Willem de Zwijgerplantsoen looked at an empty pedestal for a year because 'their' sculpture 'Homo Ludens' had been stolen by bronze thieves. As no one expected the sculpture to be returned yet, the municipality organised a competition for a replacement sculpture.... 

Argentine lives inexorably turn to destruction at Mariano Pensotti's hands

Turntables and theatre have something in common. Especially in recent years, theatre-goers increasingly run the risk of facing a so-called rotating stage. After Johan Simons made use of this technical style figure in his direction of Hiob at the Munich Kammerspiele and Christoph Schlingensief made the stage turn spectacularly in his swan song Mea Culpa, it is now... 

Rotterdam Theatre's International Choice has always been a personal choice

Vorig jaar ging het nog om ‘a sense of belonging’: om het vermogen je ergens thuis te voelen, je ergens bij weten te horen. Dit jaar staat het motto van het eigenzinnige Rotterdamse festival De Internationale Keuze daar bijna lijnrecht tegenover: de parallelle werkelijkheid. In plaats van één plek die warmte biedt, zegt het festival nu dat die plek er… 

It's final: the format for arts subsidies until 2016 is with the chamber

We have another letter from the secretary of state for culture. Halbe Zijlstra has sent it to parliament, to make it official that from 2013 a very bleak wind is going to blow in arts land. That makes cuts of 200 million final, still excluding the probably 150 million in so-called friction costs that the ministry also has to get from somewhere (u... 

Cackling fresh location artists prepare for Festival DE BASIS

With a few creative friends and a nice budget, romp around in a playground of many tens of acres of pristine nature. Surrounded by the remains of military might. It automatically makes you talk riotously. But that's how it goes sometimes. With art. So, to get right to the point: cuts are not always bad. For instance, divesting the... 

'Conceptual thundering won't get you far in London': guest column Teunkie v.d. Sluijs

"I can fire anyone here. Except the actors." Sam Walters, artistic director of London production house the Orange Tree Theatre does not mince words. "Everyone in the office could leave. The directors too. But without actors no performance." The actor is unequivocally central to this theatre. As a director, you only prove yourself here when you get top performances out of your... 

Rutte cabinet answers chamber questions on 'unsupported' VAT measure

That's going to be fodder for chambers exegetes, though the question is whether it will make any difference. But Halbe Zijlstra says he did not say that the VAT measure "was not the most accomplished measure in the coalition agreement. Although that is what that interview with him in NRC Handelsblad of 8 July 2011. At the time, everyone thought that was a funny

Unofficial, self-appointed 'City of Amsterdam playwright' still needs 7500 euros

The ANP brought it and all newspapers typed it up: 'Amsterdam gets a City playwright'. Big news, of course. After all: the theatre is rather under pressure as an expensive leftist hobby, so it would be nice if the Amsterdam city council had decided, together with the theatre world, to establish a city playwright, alongside the city poet and the poet of the fatherland, An honorary title, would... 

This is how pop music 'matures': British group Bitter Ruin reaches Opera charts US.

Vorige week bereikten ze de Amerikaanse toplijsten. Leuk voor een Britse popgroep die uit de anonimiteit wil komen via een gerichte facebookactie. Opmerkelijk wel is dat de popgroep niet de ‘gewone’ top aan het bereiken is. Met het nummer ‘Trust’ staat Bitter Ruin namelijk in de operalijst. Maar het is minder verbazingwekkend dan het lijkt. Bij Amazon valt de band… 

Mini festival 'The National Theatre Week' abuses Home Shopping Guarantee logo

National Theatre Week is new and very small. And, oddly for a small festival, advertises big on its site with the logo for the Home Shopping Guarantee. This raised questions. Because clicking on the logo for the guarantee produces a very different result. Criminal is not, by the way, if you use the logo of Thuiswinkel-waarborg without... 

Smart idea by theatre Bellevue Amsterdam: babysitting for the kids

It's so simple that you think: why didn't we think of this before? After all, expensive inner-city restaurants already park your car in front of you and hang up your coat. So why just also arrange a babysitter for the stay-at-home kids? For now, Amsterdam's Theater Bellevue has the scoop. When ordering a kart (on pre-sale, of course), you can take the theatre... 

Grassroots Arts Centre in Lucas

Small arts initiatives in the US are going to have a very hard time

Opponents of government support for arts and culture quite often cite the United States of America as an example of how things can be done differently. There, according to these people, no tax money goes to art and culture, and art is there despite this. Others point out that America does have government support for art, and that much of the top art in the US is partly... 

Delft opens with fewer chamber music surprises than other years

For another 15 years, the Delft Chamber Music Festival, so named to reflect its international character, has encompassed 15 years. Violinist Isabelle van Keulen handled the chamber music festival's programming for the first ten years, Lisa Ferschtmann - also a violinist - took over from her five years ago. But even this already successful festival fears the upcoming budget cuts. A pity, because what... 

Loyal festival-goer doesn't let his festival go down the drain

Regen, regen, regen. Dat ziet er slecht uit voor de festivals. Toch? “Het weer is minder van invloed op een festival dan men denkt”, zegt Mark Hospers van Noorderzon. En zij kunnen het weten. Vorig jaar hebben ze veel regen gehad, en tegelijkertijd een recordaantal kaarten verkocht. Hoe kan het dat het slechte weer de festivals weinig lijkt te deren?… 

Ingmar Bergman becomes opera at Grachtenfestival

Amsterdam, 1999. Studying Theatre Science, first-year theatre analysis class. I sit with notepad and pen clutched in fingers, making indecipherable notes. Halfway through the lecture, Sjaron Minailo (Tel Aviv, 1979) saunters in, dressed in a huge fur coat, with big Gucci sunglasses and dreadlocks. With a sigh, he plops into the back lecture bench, hears three sentences of the disrupted lecturer's speech 

If the children laugh and the parents cry, the performance is successful

“Het is hier interessant”, zegt een mevrouw met een tweejarige dochter,”en goed voor haar ontwikkeling. En ze hebben hier lekkere appeltjes met kaneel.” De Kinderparade is ijsjes, de draaimolen en zelf poffertjes bakken. Maar ook met je ouders mee naar voorstellingen toe. Ze de tent in krijgen en even de onrust van het terrein doen vergeten, dat is de taak… 

Eszter Salamon and Daniel Linehan gems of highly diverse Julidans

Holland Festival, Julidans, IT's, Over 't IJ. End-of-season theatre is always strewn across Amsterdam. Between April and September, international performance offerings migrate from Utrecht (Springdance and Festival aan de Werf) via Amsterdam to Rotterdam (Internationale Keuze). If you want to experience something of contemporary, international dance, Springdance, HF and Julidans are the places to be. [For... 

Do we want top entertainment or still tragedy on the Parade?

"The Parade is like a snack bar. I come here to soak up atmosphere, drink wine and, in addition, be made to think a bit by the performances. But then that shouldn't last too long." Looking for the essence of the Parade performance, Cultural Press Agency knocks on the door of visitors, The Sadists and John Buijsman. "It's already just cosy... 

Theatre Institute Netherlands to continue as museum, perhaps in Arnhem

Clever, of course, but also perilous. Although - hanging over the abyss - there will be little else to do, but turn the TIN (Theatre Institute of the Netherlands) into a Performing Arts Museum. From 2013, because then the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science's money tap will close. In doing so, the institute will implement a rescue plan that will at least save the collection. Whether this will also save the... 

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