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RPhO's gift to the resurrected city falls short at opening Gergiev festival

tim hugh
Tim Hugh

By Willem Jan Keizer

Rotterdam - The fifteenth edition of the Gergjev Festival officially kicked off Friday evening in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen in concert hall de Doelen with a concert by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Valeri Gergjev. Although the festival takes place at some 20 locations in the city - not only in de Doelen but also in the Laurenskerk, the conservatory, museum Boijmans van Beuningen and numerous other unexpected locations - the festival is virtually invisible in the city.

Read More "RPhO's gift to the resurrected city falls short at opening Gergiev festival

Dutch actors relive emotional childhood memories during Shelley Mitchell's Method Acting Masterclass #tf2010


 "We are artists. Acting is a vocation. Not everyone understands that. Sometimes it's a lonely existence." Understanding, almost motherly, Shelley Mitchell addresses a group of Dutch actors at De Balie. The American actress and founder of The Actors Centre of San Francisco introduces them to 'method acting' during a three-day master class. Not pretending, but becoming one with your character. A way of acting that has won many famous actors an Oscar. Think of Robert De Niro, Juilette Binoche, Al Pacino and Kate Winslet.

Read More "Dutch actors relive emotional childhood memories during Shelley Mitchell's Method Acting Masterclass #tf2010

Poetic and pure exploration of Aardlek in Amsterdam's basement #tf2010

The search for the gem of the Fringe takes me to Amsterdam's basement. Underneath the Rokin, where work on the North/South line is going on 24 hours a day, theatre collective Aardlek plays the performance PUT. In one of the Fringe Festival's most eye-catching locations, I find myself on an underground voyage of discovery into the past, present and future.

Read More "Poetic and pure exploration of Aardlek in Amsterdam's basement #tf2010

Stunning transformations by Shelley Mitchell in poignant monologue 'Talking with Angels' #tf2010

Invisible forces, described as angels, speaking through a Jewish woman to her friends at the time of the Holocaust in Hungary. A mysterious and true story, translated by American actress Shelley Mitchell into the one-woman performance Talking with Angels. A huge success in America. Yesterday on stage for the first time in the Netherlands.

Read More "Stunning transformations by Shelley Mitchell in poignant monologue 'Talking with Angels' #tf2010

True theatre is like Storm and Cappuccino: irresistibly sublime, says Adelheid Roosen on #tf2010

'It is a wonderful thing, for instance, that every day, my body exhibits the same eager desire for a keigoeie kappoetzjino. That every 24 hours the desire to 'want to taste' is born in me and wants to hit me again. And I don't have to do anything for that, that desire drags me into the shower and saliva starts foaming... 

Read More "True theatre is like Storm and Cappuccino: irresistibly sublime, says Adelheid Roosen on #tf2010

NNT's 11 minutes not only makes you lose the desire to laugh, but all lust. My wife regrets that. #tf2010

Ola Mafaalani. That's a very fierce one. So you can never ignore that. The human is so full of passion and emotion that all her stage work, because she is a director, cannot possibly leave you cold. At least, so it was until recently, with me personally finding her last play at Toneelgroep Amsterdam 'Hemel boven Berlijn' the most beautiful, because it was also the most... 

Read More "NNT's 11 minutes not only makes you lose the desire to laugh, but all lust. My wife regrets that. #tf2010

John Moran experiments with thousands of bits of sound you hear every day

Amsterdam's Stadsschouwburg is velvet red. Theatre Bellevue, the beating heart of the Amsterdam Fringe Festival, whorish pink. The Amsterdam Fringe, that means performances in more than 25 places. In theatres, but also on location. From 2 to 12 September 2010 Henk de Jong for The Dodo and performing arts trade journal TM in search of the pearl of the Fringe. Here he keeps a diary, and a longer article by him will appear in the next issue of TM.

Read More "John Moran experiments with thousands of bits of sound you hear every day

Tirza is Dutch Oscar entry

Tirza by Rudolf van den Berg based on Arnon Grunberg's novel of the same name has been chosen as the film that will be sent to Los Angeles as the Dutch entry for the Oscars in the best foreign film category. Holland Film announced today. In this grim drama, Gijs Scholten van Aschat plays a man who, after a failed marriage,... 

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Opening #TF2010: 'Theatre should be at the forefront of discussion on society, instead of being dictated to by prevailing mores.'

On 2 September 2010, actress, writer, theatre and television producer Joan Nederlof opened the Dutch Theatre Festival with a speech that was as entertaining as it was provocative. As it was her turn to pronounce the annual 'State of the Theatre', Nederlof, born in 1962, seized the opportunity to call on her own generation to take a stand in the social debate. She did so in her own relatable way, known for her roles on TV (Deer Park) and in the theatre (Inside Out):

Read More "Opening #TF2010: 'Theatre should be at the forefront of discussion on society, instead of being dictated to by prevailing mores.'

Drama is much more suited to interpret history than film. @RvanH writes essay on Hannah and Martin at #TF2010

Hannah and Martin by Mugmetdegoudentand is not only a heartwarming performance, played by one phenomenal actress and one inimitable theatre personality, it is also a brainteaser. Trouw reviewer and theatre scholar Robbert van Heuven felt challenged to write a short essay in response to this performance.

Read More "Drama is much more suited to interpret history than film. @RvanH writes essay on Hannah and Martin at #TF2010

First ACT Award presented to casting legend Hans Kemna: 'I didn't want to come at all' #tf2010

Everyone wants to kiss him for a moment. Hans Kemna, shining centre of the 'book ball for actors', has just won the very first ACT Award. The award was presented at Amsterdam's Stadsschouwburg, during the ACT gala, the prologue to the Dutch Theatre Festival.

Read More "First ACT Award presented to casting legend Hans Kemna: 'I didn't want to come at all' #tf2010

The downsides of a Twitter success: trending topic spam on museum action #askacurator

It was a wonderful idea, but it is already, halfway through the day, in danger of falling victim to that same success. #askacurator, The Twitter campaign of more than three hundred museums from around the world, whereby internet users can ask questions to museum directors, is suffering from an onslaught of viagra, porn and other nonsense sellers. After all, that type of internet entrepreneur is figuring out what topics... 

Read More "The downsides of a Twitter success: trending topic spam on museum action #askacurator

The only governing party with a coherent vision on culture is the PVV, reports the Green Left at the Paradiso Debate.

Sound recording available to listen to here!

You will hear successively Axel Rüger, director of the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, responding to the assertion made by VVD member Mark Harbers that the art world is not entrepreneurial enough. This is followed by responses from former CDA culture spokesperson Nicolien van Vroonhoven (consistently called Nicolien van Vroemhoven by presenter Twan Huys) and former NNT actor Boris van der Ham, now culture spokesperson for D66.

Read More "The only governing party with a coherent vision on culture is the PVV, reports the Green Left at the Paradiso Debate.

Maxima opens new home for youth opera house Holland Opera on 3 October

Indeed, the name Xynix was somewhat outdated. And since, thanks to the efforts of its own company and Yo! Opera, which started as a youth opera festival, opera nowadays turns out to be suitable for young people too, a more adult name is appropriate: Holland Opera. The company settled in Amersfoort in a former company building near the railway station: De Verensmederij. The building, after a renovation, is... 

Read More "Maxima opens new home for youth opera house Holland Opera on 3 October

Benjamin Verdonck opens Flemish Theatre Festival: artists must be environmentally aware #tf2010

We had completely forgotten about the environment. While the streets in the Netherlands are flooded and some Dutch people are already talking about Pakistani conditions, here the talk is mainly about looming austerity measures and disintegrating Christian Democrat power blocks. 'Artists of today must relate to environmental issues' is therefore a comment we do not expect to hear from an artist in the Netherlands. We... 

Read More "Benjamin Verdonck opens Flemish Theatre Festival: artists must be environmentally aware #tf2010

This is my father: flaming stab at anti-Semitism to be seen on #tf2010

In This is my father, young theatre-maker Ilay den Boer (1986) literally puts his own father in the spotlight. He does so by giving his father the lead role in a performance that is all about him. This results in intimate and voyeuristic theatre.
Before the performance, you will be given a booklet describing the life of Gert den Boer. Based on dates and events, visitors can ask questions to the men on stage. Father and son answer, open doors and tell anecdotes. But what if it turns out that they handle some events very differently? Where Jewish Ilay sees signs of anti-Semitism, his own reformed father recognises an innocent incident. How differently do father and son view issues like discrimination or hatred?

Read More "This is my father: flaming stab at anti-Semitism to be seen on #tf2010

The Dodo spreads its wings in dire times for subsidised art

Then you just have to have Twan Huys. The presenter of Nova who managed to kill all Job Cohen's election ambitions in a few schoolmaster questions. He will be able to pull the same trick on Sunday 29 August with a few left-wing politicians and arts bobos in the traditional Uitmarkt debate in Paradiso.

Read More "The Dodo spreads its wings in dire times for subsidised art

Museum Belvedere: 'Floods in Pakistan, forest fires in Moscow, a cabinet tolerated by Wilders. How lousy can a landscape be?'

'In this museum, we so often extol the landscape, that for once we wanted to show the destruction, upheaval and impending change of the landscape.' According to Han Steenbruggen, director of Museum Belvedere in Heerenveen-Oranjewoud, it was time for an exhibition that shows what war, natural disasters and climate change do to the landscape: 'With this exhibition, we reflect and respond to... 

Read More "Museum Belvedere: 'Floods in Pakistan, forest fires in Moscow, a cabinet tolerated by Wilders. How lousy can a landscape be?'

Branden: legendary top theatre to be seen again in Amsterdam #tf2010

The destructive power of war and hatred

Writer Wajdi Mouawad (b. 1968) fled his native Lebanon at the age of nine. At the time, a brutal civil war had been raging there for years. Together with his family, he ended up in Canada via France.

There, he develops into an internationally renowned playwright. His work is now performed all over the world. The Ro Theatre introduced Mouawad to the Netherlands for the first time this theatre season.

Director Alize Zandwijk chose the play Fires and puts on a bold and convincing version. Assisted by a talented cast of actresses and actors. You see the mother Nawal Marwan and her twins Jeanne and Simon. Nawal is dying.

Read More "Branden: legendary top theatre to be seen again in Amsterdam #tf2010

Museums' first global Twitter action: The Cultural Press Agency is there and reports

1 September is 'Askacurator day'. Already more than 100 museums in now 14 countries are putting their curators at the computer on that day to answer questions from internet users. It is a first. Never before has such an askacurator day been available worldwide, and never before have internet users been given access to the people behind museums such as the Tate Modern, Van... 

Read More "Museums' first global Twitter action: The Cultural Press Agency is there and reports

'What is that turd doing on your plinth?' Museums again take lead on social networks with 'ask a curator'

Paul McCarthy - Shit pile (2007)

Back in February this year, you could add museums worldwide to your Twitter lists thanks to #followamueum, and now they have come up with another new thing. It's unprecedented, and very simple. On 1 September next, anyone, anywhere in the world, can ask questions to people who know about art. Only condition: that you are on twitter sits and knows where the 'hashtag' button is. Because with the 'hashtag' #askacurator ask your question to a museum conductor or exhibition maker, and by using the search function on the twitter website, or in a twitter program like Tweetdeck, searching for that same #askacurator, you can follow anyone with such a question, and also keep track of their answers.

Read More "'What is that turd doing on your plinth?' Museums again take lead on social networks with 'ask a curator'

Spectacle group Vis à Vis gives every space to the imagination and outdoes itself in dream show Silo8

Flying nurses. We don't look up to that anymore. We have all seen Mary Poppins. The fact that at Vis a Vis, near Almere beach, instead of invisible strings they deploy a 50-metre-high construction crane for such a special turnout is spectacular and fun then, but nothing more. Matter of money and resources. The next show does have... 

Read More "Spectacle group Vis à Vis gives every space to the imagination and outdoes itself in dream show Silo8

Uncle Boonmee at festival World Cinema Amsterdam

By Leo Bankersen

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, this year's surprise Golden Palm winner, will get its first Dutch screening at the new festival World Cinema Amsterdam next weekend. The Cannes jury had caused some noise with this choice even among critics. After all, was this ghost story by the Thai filmmaker with the unpronounceable name now a dull and obscure film, or rather a cinematic masterpiece?

Read More "Uncle Boonmee at festival World Cinema Amsterdam

The International Choice of Rotterdam Theatre on location

Rotterdam is renovating its theatre into something that should be cosy in its Jan Versewyveld way with lots of wood. The International Choice, the increasingly exciting season opener by Quist's Kist, as the building opposite the Pathé multiplex on schouwburgplein is called, can therefore be seen everywhere except the theatre. Last-minute searches for locations are ongoing.... 

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On to Theatre Festival TF and International Choice Rotterdam Theatre

  The Dodo has had its baptism of fire. We now know what the basics are, and therefore what can be improved. and of course there will be others with even more suggestions. We're going to take all that into our tents this July, think and sleep on that and then go with the new insights.... 

Read More "On to Theatre Festival TF and International Choice Rotterdam Theatre

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