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Engeland bezuinigt 30% op uitgaven voor de kunsten

Ook in Groot Brittanië worden de kunsten getroffen door bezuinigingen. Bij de begrotingsbehandeling in het Britse Lagerhuis is duidelijk geworden dat die bezuinigingen op kunnen lopen tot meer dan 30%. Het leeuwendeel van de bezuinigingen treft de Arts Council England. Dit ‘Superfonds’ dat het leeuwendeel van de Britse kunstsubsidies verdeelt, moet 29,9% inleveren. Van het budget van bijna 450 miljoen… 

Free search for the differences between a lamp at the Rotterdam Schouwburg

Incandescent bulbs are also out of the question in theatres. Plays, musicals and concerts will soon all have to switch to "sustainable" lighting. And, just as this affects the atmosphere in the living room, it also affects the atmosphere on stage: sustainable light has completely different colour values than old-fashioned light. Lighting designers have been complaining about this for some time. But how... 

World-renowned conductor Simon Rattle calls cuts to broadcasting orchestras 'baffling'

Sir Simon Rattle is quite clear about it: "The entire musical world must be as horrified and puzzled as I am to see such a massive destruction of orchestral and choral institutions in Holland." (The entire musical world must be as horrified and puzzled as I am, at the sight of such massive destruction of orchestral and choral institutions in Holland).... 

Juries TF and VSCD merge

It was actually typically Dutch. After all, we have more awards to give away here in all parts of the creative sector than there are artists. Almost. And so all those awards have their own selection committees, juries, committees and you name it. Not only costs hands full of money, it's also cumbersome. Which is why there is now at least one sensible... 

Physical theatre, dance and boating on the pond at the Westergasfabriek site

It is occasionally quite chilly on the Westergasfabriek grounds where three Fringe performances are on show. Thursday night, they are Levelless by Theatre Group WAK, Vivarium #3 by LORNA Collective and Kaat by Eva Knibbe, respectively. The cold, however, is no killjoy. The physical jokes in Levelless (or Recht not in Dutch) are a bit like... 

‘House without a maid’ in Huis Sonneveld inspirerende microkosmos van licht en ruimte #dekeuze

Een intiem huiskamercongres tussen levende kunstwerken. Zo kun je ‘House without a maid, een  ‘gesprekken-, performances- en installatieproject’ van Jorge León en Simone Aughterlony in Huis Sonneveld het best omschrijven. In de voormalige garage van de modernistische villa uit 1932 is een select vrouwelijk gezelschap twee dagen bijeen om te discussiëren over het fenomeen dienstmeid. In andere vertrekken van het imponerende… 

Veelstemmig ‘Deserve’ verbluffend diepgravende compositie over dienstbaarheid #dekeuze

‘Dus, dokter Lacan, zijn vrouwen gevoeliger voor gekte? … Is de man vatbaar voor hysterie?’ In ‘Deserve’, onderdeel van het drieluik over de dienstmeid van Jorge León en Simone Aughterlony, graven de makers diep, heel diep.  Ze volgen de intrigerende lijn van de grote ontmaskeraars in onze denkgeschiedenis: van Hegels meester-slaaf analyse via Marx en Freud naar de Franse psychoanalyticus Jacques Lacan. Kern van… 

Zoekhulp voor wie op de hoogte wil blijven van de kunstenaarsactie ‘kaalslag’

Vandaag (vrijdag 24 september 2010) is in het Amsterdamse Debatcentrum De Balie de aftrap gegeven van de acties van de kunstwereld tegen de door het nieuwe kabinet van CDA en VVD, gedoogd door PVV voorgenomen bezuinigingen van 21% op de begroting van OC&W. Voor wie de berichten daarover nog niet heeft gevonden in de reguliere media: de sociale netwersite ’twitter’… 

Introvert Keuzedebat in De Unie: Kunstenaar als participerende socioloog #dekeuze

Het debatseizoen in Rotterdam is dit jaar geopend in de vernieuwde zaal van De Unie. De net opgeleverde ruimte doet prettig en intiem aan. Des te opmerkelijker de uitspraak van gespreksleider Natasja van den Berg dat vragen vanuit de zaal niet zijn toegestaan ‘omdat die toch nergens over gaan’. Dat klinkt niet echt als warm welkom in een debatcentrum. Weliswaar leverde het… 

Raw 'Hard to be a God' by Mundruczó lingers on the surface #dekeuze

In places like this, things happen that cannot bear the light of day. We are deep in Rotterdam's container port, among the neon-lit transhipment yards and dark warehouses. In one of those raw warehouses are two truck trailers. One is set up as an illegal sewing workshop, the other is filled with earth and rubber tyres. They form the backdrop for Hungarian theatre-maker Kornél Mundruczó's performance 'Hard to be a god'.

The show tells the fairly inimitable story of Karoly, who wants to make symbolic torture porn to blackmail his father with it. That father once raped his sister and is now an MEP. Three women are lured to this sewing studio under false pretences to participate in those videos. Things do not end well for them, partly because the foreign film director has rather sadistic tendencies, damaging the ladies to the point of rendering them useless.

Ruim drie miljoen voor Het beste van twee werelden

Het Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie heeft in het kader van het programma Het beste van twee werelden subsidie toegekend aan acht meerjarige projecten van professionele kunstinstellingen. Het gaat om een totaalbedrag van € 3.397.333. Met het programma Het beste van twee werelden wil het Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie een impuls geven aan de samenwerking tussen professionals en amateurs op cultuurgebied. Er zijn drie… 

Kees Hulst en Maria Kraakman winnen Louis d’Or en Theo d’Or op ‘prijzencircus’ Gala van het Nederlands Theater #tf2010

Op het Gala van het Nederlands Theater in de Amsterdamse Stadsschouwburg zijn gisteravond de belangrijkste toneelprijzen uitgereikt. Kees Hulst won de Louis d’Or voor de meest indrukwekkende mannelijke hoofdrol, de rol van Jörgen Hofmeester in’ Tirza’ bij het Nationale Toneel. Maria Kraakman won de Theo d’Or voor de meest indrukwekkende vrouwelijke dragende rol, Orlando in de gelijknamige productie van Toneelgroep Oostpool. Het stuk ‘Oog om Oog’, met onder meer Linda van Dyck en Victor Löw, won de AVRO Toneel Publieksprijs.

Acteurs hebben ambivalente gevoelens bij het ‘prijzencircus’, ofwel het Gala van het Nederlands Theater #tf2010


Een rode loper, veel champagne en nog veel meer geknuffel. Het is een warm weerzien voor theaterland, het Gala van het Nederlands Theater in de Amsterdamse Stadsschouwburg. Een spannend weerzien ook, want de belangrijkste Nederlandse toneelprijzen worden vanavond uitgereikt.

More audience, fewer seats: Amsterdam Fringe a lot cosier this year, and better than last year #tf2010 #amsfringe

With over 12,000 visitors and an average occupancy rate of 70%, the organisers of the Amsterdam Fringe Festival say they have reason for pride. In a press release, they report that 'they managed to grow the number of visitors without losing the intimacy and experimental character of the Amsterdam Fringe Festival. ' How exactly we should see that.... 

Davis Freemans investeringsshow ironische reflectie op geld, macht, individu en cultuur #dekeuze

De multimedia show ‘Investment’ van de Amerikaan Davis Freeman doet in eerste instantie denken aan de PowerPointshow ‘An Unconvenient Truth’ van Al Gore. Drie performers en een projectiecomputer tonen het publiek zeer routineus en gedetailleerd een heel scala aan mogelijkheden om te beleggen. Aanvankelijk  zinvol en duurzaam, maar als snel spelen hele andere motieven een rol. Pikant detail: iedereen uit het… 

Too much humour and not enough shuddering at De Warme Winkel's 'Poets and bandits' at Theatre Festival The International Choice #dekeuze

Snow has fallen, a thick layer of fresh snow. Fake snow admittedly, but real enough to imagine yourself in the middle of Russia. There, in the city of Sverdlovsk, or Yekaterinburg, once lived the man about whom the show 'Poets and bandits' is about. Boris Ryzhy (1974-2001) turned the raw realities of his hometown into poems. He left more than a thousand poems to the world. His breakthrough came at the Poetry International festival in Rotterdam, in the year 2000. A year later, he was dead. Boris Ryzhy, 26, had hanged himself.

Theatre group De Warme Winkel makes that link with Rotterdam if only because 'Poëten en bandieten' is played there. An old factory hall serves as a backdrop for the run-down working-class neighbourhood in which Ryzhy grew up. From behind a work table, actress Mara van Vlijmen calls Rotterdam residents. None of them are at home. But on their answering machine is now one of Ryzhy's poems, which must be a wondrous experience for the listeners. The Warm Shop does not show how the professor's son Boris ended up in that poor neighbourhood. Whereas he himself talks about an environment full of drab flats in his poems, the stage setting is more reminiscent of the outdoors, with all that vast snow. The atmosphere is cosy and warm. On a float decorated with candles, a folk ensemble comes on, singing Russian songs. Old-fashioned songs, and nothing pop or punk.

'One hour listening and half an hour talking to Clinton for 100,000 euros. Or new breasts.' Concrete questions on The International Choice. #hechoice

Het Dodo Internationale Keuze-journaal, aflevering 3: Hans van Dam zag ‘Investment’ en sprak met maker Davis Freeman, over wat je allemaal met een ton kunt doen. Het roept associaties op met de fameuze TED-talks en doet denken aan de powerpointdocumentaire ‘An Inconvenient Truth‘, waarmee Al Gore de wereld trachtte wakker te schudden over de klimaatverandering. Wat Davis Freeman doet is kleiner, maar… 

Comedic and dramatic play in Mokhallad Rasem's experimental, surreal 'Iraqi Ghosts' #tf2010

In suits, wearing animal masks, five actors pose on stage. They represent a bear, rabbit, deer, rooster and monkey. From this 'freeze', they start making animal noises and moving around. A rhythmic performance follows. Fascinated, but confused, the audience watches the alienating dance. What do these animals have to do with the war in Iraq anyway? Just when you start to wonder if you are in the right audience, the actors take off their masks and answer: 'Have you ever wondered what the war in Iraq has meant to the animals there? We never hear anything about them in newspapers or on TV.'

Performance 'Metro' gives you a slap in the face #amsfringe #tf2010

A new day, so new chances to find the Fringe's greatest gem. Today, I am taken from Theatre Bellevue into a nearby alley. Suddenly I see her lying there. A junk, like there are more walking around in Amsterdam. I prefer to walk around it quickly. Afraid of smelling them or being accosted. Metro, a piece of... 

Apocalyptic location theatre Wunderbaum tantalising prelude to explosive 'International Choice' #he Choice

Such a cool late summer evening as Thursday 9 September 2010 is a perfect night for the try- out of actor group Wunderbaum's location play 'Natives'. Clear sky, mildly rising autumn chill and virtually windless. Location: a swampy lawn between two abandoned housing blocks in Rotterdam's Pendrecht district. Once built from post-war ideals of family happiness, convenience and accessibility, but soon too cramped, ageing and... 

Sweet feel-good musical about the drug scene and uplifting musical 'Reflection' #tf2010

 In my search for the gem of the Fringe, I stumbled upon two musicals at the Rose Theatre on Wednesday night. At the Fringe Festival, anything goes, yet I was surprised by Christiane by F*K Theatre. In this musical, young people sink to the bottom of society. They drink and blow. Everyone lives in their own little world. Main character Christiane falls in love with an addicted boy and so also comes into contact with the dark sides of the drug scene. You expect to see the raw sides of this dark world in a story like this, but from the first song Christiane far too well behaved. It reminds me of a feel good-school musical. Eight neat boys and girls sing about 'a trip with friends around you'. They do this so sweetly and in harmonious harmony singing that what you hear and see is totally inconsistent with the story.

We will be there every day at The International Choice. With text. With video. With news and reviews

Tomorrow begins The International Choice of The Rotterdam Theatre. A festival that for years has presented remarkable theatre from all over the world at the Maasstad's theatre in September. Except this year, that is, because the 'chest of quist' is being rebuilt and that will take some time. Not something with Amsterdam metro builders, but whether the official reopening on 2 October 2010 will be... 

Pictorial 'Raging heights, restless souls' for people of all ages #tf2010

Wuthering Heights is often mentioned in the same breath as other nineteenth-century classics such as Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice, but Emily Brontë's book is infinitely darker than those other coquettish girl books. Heathcliff and Cathy's big, dramatic passion actually connects surprisingly well with emos who are Twilight, True Blood and devour other contemporary vampire stories.

Adaptor Jeroen Olyslaegers and director Floor Huygen were well aware of this when they adapted the novel for the stage into Fierce heights, restless souls, a co-production of Dutch youth theatre company Artemis and Flemish Antigone. The show garnered high praise, can now be seen in TF, but was also nominated for two Gouden Krekels, the awards for youth theatre.

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