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Frans van Hilten

I am a freelance cultural journalist. Because I think an independent cultural voice is important, I enjoy writing for this platform.

Carlo Boszhard as a gnome: 3 reasons why 'Maestro' does suck

by Frans van Hilten
18 December 201430 March 2022
5 min read
For members only, MEDIA, MUSIC, TELEVISION

Tonight (Thursday 18 December), the second season of TV programme 'Maestro' will have its finale. Dutch celebrities such as schlager singer Frans Duijts and presenter Sylvana Simons try to conduct a symphony orchestra under supervision. They will be judged by conductor Otto Tausk, violinist Isabelle van Keulen and double bassist Dominic Seldis. Letter writers and columnists tumble over each other in condemning the programme. 'Maestro' would be a knee-jerk...

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Glazen hanger in de vorm van een gezicht (4e-3e eeuw v.C.)

Die stad moest overigens helemaal niet vernietigd worden: 7 mythen over Carthago ontmaskerd in Leiden

by Frans van Hilten
2 December 201430 March 2022
6 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, IMAGING

Het slechte nieuws is: de meeste mythen over Carthago zijn onzin. Het goede nieuws is, dat de werkelijkheid minstens zo fascinerend is. Het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (RMO) in Leiden laat tot en met 10 mei 2015 de veelzijdige geschiedenis zien van een havenstad in het huidige Tunesië, en ooit geducht concurrent van het Romeinse rijk. Het biedt tegelijk een kijkje…

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Stefan de Walle en Ariane Schluter in Vrijdag, foto Kurt van der Elst

Verder leven met onverteerbare schuld aan elkaars verwoeste bestaan: Nationale Toneel speelt Vrijdag van Hugo Claus

by Frans van Hilten
30 November 201411 July 2016
4 min read
THEATER

Georges Vermeersch komt vervroegd thuis uit de gevangenis, waar hij een straf uitzat wegens incest met zijn dochter Christiane. Zijn vrouw Jeanne heeft in de tussentijd een kind gekregen van de jongere buurman Erik. Hoe moet je dan verder? Casper Vandeputte regisseerde een intense, beklemmende versie van het toneelstuk Vrijdag van Hugo Claus bij het Nationale Toneel. Hoofdrolspelers Stefan de…

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Plastic Junkies by Antonin Comestaz, photo Robert Benschop

Squeaky plastic and schizophrenia in Here We Live And Now by NDT and Korzo

by Frans van Hilten
21 November 201430 March 2022
5 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, DANS

Among the audience at Korzo theatre in The Hague at the performance 'Here We Live And Now' are a striking number of dancers from Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). No wonder, as many of their colleagues are involved in this performance. This annual programme featuring young choreographic talent is a co-production of NDT and Korzo. The addition 'The Hague' talent, by the way, may be taken with...

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Keeping is no good, throwing away is wrong: comical lesson in self-reflection from Firma MES

by Frans van Hilten
7 November 201430 March 2022
4 min read
For members only, THEATER

Twenty-five per cent of people have a room they can no longer enter because it is too full of stuff. This is oppressive and it is no wonder that some resort to the other extreme: radical consumerism. In TROEP, theatre group Firma MES follows Barbara, a woman who wants to live with no more than eight objects. Just like Buddhist monks. This results in a delightful, witty play that is seriously thought-provoking and shows how giving up can become just as oppressive as keeping it.

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Sallie Harmsen and Joris Smit in Tasso (photo Kurt van der Elst)

Drama about art: to do or not to do? Ivo van Hove and Sallie Harmsen think so.

by Frans van Hilten
28 October 201429 March 2022
9 min read
For members only, THEATER

The National Theatre will premiere Blueprint for an Even Better Life on 8 November 2014, which addresses, among other things, the position of artists in society. A theme that also featured in their recent Tasso, and in Toneelgroep Amsterdam's successful The Fountainhead. Is the subject of art back on the theatre agenda due to the changed cultural politics of the past...

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