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Angels of Amsterdam convinces with 4 centuries of women's lives

If you get the urge to run your finger through the candle flame for a moment, then a VR installation is already almost successful. Not just because of the technical feat, but also because it convinces as a place to bivouac for half an hour. I am standing at the bar of a seventeenth-century Amsterdam pub. There is murmuring, music, a barman who is... 

Like the best clowns, Elias de Bruyne knows how to connect humour with existential angst. At Festival Boulevard #tfboulevard

One of the very best things about Festival Boulevard is the variety of programming. Theatre, dance, music, youth performances, mime, comedy, it all mixes together. And the festival offers just as much space to young makers as to the old hands. So you get a good overview of what the up-and-coming generation of theatre makers has to offer.... 

Writer Henk Pröpper's slow heartbeat

Writer and publicist Henk Pröpper had only just moved to his beloved Paris when the city came to a standstill, and so did his heart almost. Once fitted with a pacemaker, he took to the city in the one hour a day Parisians were allowed. A new world opened up for him. For Henk Pröpper (62), former director... 

This year's Theatre Festival Boulevard feels greener than usual - and you'll notice it in the performances #tfboulevard

The permanent site of Boulevard's festival centre has largely turned into a construction site this year. This forced the organisers to move to Zuiderpark. Although this is a bit outside the city centre, it is much more spacious and green than the Parade square. It gives the festival a nice feeling of air, space and proximity to the... 

'You don't know where you stand.' Non-visitors of theatre make it clear where art goes wrong

The vast majority of Dutch adults never go to the theatre. Interestingly enough, the question among theatre people is never really about why people don't go to the theatre. After all, our arts sector is a supply market. At an art school, you are not trained to please the public, but to express your most individual emotion. And then preferably... 

For comfort in these dark times, you need John Buijsman. And Kees. #tfboulevard

Bosses start to look like their dogs. Or vice versa. Or owners like dogs who look like them. Or vice versa. Either way. If you want proof of this statement, rush to Theatre Festival Boulevard where John Buijsman plays the gem 'Cosmic Cowboy', assisted by Kees, a labradoodle. Or something that should pass for that. John Buijsman is one of the... 

A danced ode to a Polish harpsichordist - sounds inaccessible, but Jan Martens makes it compelling #tfboulevard

I have seen a lot of genre mash-ups in my lifetime. But I think a danced documentary about a musician was a first for me. The focus of choreographer Jan Martens in his new dance solo Elisabeth Gets Her Way is the famous harpsichordist Elisabeth Chojnacka. The Polish left for Paris at the age of 23. There she set her sights on... 

Benjamin Verdonck renews, for a moment, your view of the world. At Theatre Festival Boulevard #tfboulevard

One of the things that make Boulevard so special in the Dutch festival landscape is its generous focus on Belgian performances. Where Dutch theatres programme less and less work from across the southern borders, Boulevard continues to offer a stage to a large number of Belgian makers. Learning to live together This produces very varied work again this year. At the heart of the festival is... 

Nerd podcast #s2e1: On the necessary lightness of something heavy. A conversation about reviews and witches with Club Gewalt #tfboulevard

There is a huge amount happening in theatre, this summer, as many summer festivals have special corona editions where they show a lot of what was made in attic rooms last year during the forced closure of theatres. One such show was Die Hexe, by Club Gewalt, a fresh point theatre band/theatre collective that is/was showing at Theatre Festival Boulevard this summer. Nerd... 

The 'weird life' of all-rounder Jef Last is not over

Better to die standing than to live kneeling. The statement is fresh in memory after the murder in the Lange Leidse Dwarsstraat, as a mantra in praise of Peter R de Vries, his fearlessness, non-conformism, straightforwardness and honesty. This same statement jumps out even from the first paragraphs of the introduction to the biography of poet Jef Last, written by Rudi Wester.1.... 

Why laughter is best left to us more often: Joseph Toonga teaches theatre rage #tfboulevard

Think Pussy Riot, think Rammstein, maybe think Nina Hagen before she found Jesus and mix that up nice and fierce. Then you get something that is basically an insane festival act. Raging female punk in a beer- and smoke-soaked nightclub, ferocious moshpits full of people who really have something to dance out of their souls. It's all in there... 

Spielberg, #metoo and corona: Ivo van Hove's West Side Story does not survive crisis

Het moest dé grote doorbraak van Ivo van Hove worden op Broadway. En dat driegde het ook te worden, maar het lot heeft anders beslist. Vandaag werd via het Amerikaanse shownieuws van Variety bekend dat West Side Story, in de moderne, rauwe versie van Ivo van Hove, niet weer zal worden hernomen. Ondanks een juichende ontvangst en vrijwel uitverkochte zalen… 

Better listening, watching, feeling, smelling and tasting thanks to Theatre Festival Boulevard #tfboulevard

We don't look upward enough. Maybe we do a quick glance at the horizon to see if that shower is really going to ruin our terrace afternoon, but that's not looking for the sake of looking. And I was able to do that thanks to the people of BLOOS. In Bossche Zuiderpark, they have a... 

PODCAST - Guilherme Miotto: the wait is always for it to start flowing. #tfboulevard

Guilherme Miotto is artistiek leider van Corpo Maquina, een bijzonder dansgezelschap dat is gevestigd in Breda en Tilburg. Dit jaar staat hij, onder andere, met de voorstelling Tak. op Festival Boulevard in Den Bosch. Een voorstelling, voortkomend uit een eerder project in een stadswijk van Den Bosch. Zes vrouwen met wie hij daar werkte, vormen nu een ensemble waarmee hij… 

Boulevard makes you feel what white balls cause #tfboulevard

White balls are quite in the news, lately. For instance, they molest compatriots as a holiday pastime. Or they shout 'Snollebollekes' at a black champion. So the fact that white balls can also be fine is news. You can experience it at Festival Boulevard, where in a small, narrow tent, thousands of white Styrofoam balls, driven by huge fans, give you a fine massage shower,... 

Unaccustomedness was to be expected at this rare summer festival #TFBoulevard

For a year and a half, there was hardly any playing, festival tents remained in mothballs and artists were busy doing living room concerts or attic sessions on Zoom. Now everything is allowed out again and the discharge is just barely there. Unaccustomedness characterises the fresh start of Theatre Festival Boulevard, which has moved to a park south of downtown Bossche for the next few years,... 

'Vanished talent and manpower will break up culture sector as it relaunches in September'

The uncertainty of the events sector and cultural institutions, after 17 months of lockdowns and one-half-meter openings, is not only disastrous for the mood of executives, artists and spectators. According to the Creative Sector Taskforce, much more is being lost. In fact, a 'Marshall Plan' is needed to help the cultural and creative sector get back on its feet,... 

'Minister bans art!' - How dangerous propaganda gets a chance in cucumber time

Up to and including the union, the message was shared: outgoing culture minister Ingrid van Engelshoven had allegedly gone overboard with her diversity policy and now wants to ban non-diverse art from universities. It was big in the Telegraaf and former cabaret artist Hans Teeuwen got a few hundred thousand likes with it on Instagram. Meanwhile, it has also reached the columns of Het Parool thanks to 'artist' 

The NUT delivers splendour with Never Work Again.

On the day that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of the world's Facebook, announced his launch to the 'Metaversum', in order to trounce his collegatechies Bezos, Musk and Branson, who had only had a little sniff of the Universe, I attended the performance 'Never work again' by the Nieuw Utrechts Toneel in Utrecht Leidsche Rijn. In these times of lockdown and... 

Nerd podcast #15 with Dick Zijp: 'Humour usually follows power, and is more effective in it than serious expressions.'

Met zijn opiniestuk in de Volkskrant haalde hij zich de gramschap op de nek van geinfabrikanten als Bert Brussen en Hans Teeuwen. In niet mis te verstane persoonlijke aanvallen werd ‘Suck My Dick Zijp’ verweten een ‘genderneutrale rotkop’  te hebben, die aantoonde dat ‘woke’ mensen geen humor hadden. Reden voor de wakkere nerds, Marijn Lems en ik, ook wel de… 

Dear Hans Teeuwen, art has nothing to fear from boring men.

It is a great thing that there are comedians who keep a finger on the pulse of society. Hans Teeuwen, for instance, has once again made himself angry. He has joined the small chorus of (mostly) men who see the end of the world coming because of a rebuttal. That is the rebuttal that now comes via social media 

Dance history in action - Dance On Ensemble performs iconic works, with contemporary responses

That Julidans is experiencing a strong edition was actually already evident with the bold and delightful opening night. That performance invited you to think about what dance is. Making Dances - Dancing Replies makes you think about the same question, but in a very different way. Dance On Ensemble, the Berlin-based company with dancers over 40, performed works by... 

A dangerously hurt little bird. Writer Caroline De Mulder delved into the world of girl gangs and sugardating

Girl gangs and sugar dating - these are the themes of Bambi likes you raw. Caroline De Mulder (44) wanted to talk about the violence of women rather than against women. 'I could work out the dark, aggressive sides in myself without bashing someone's head in.' Bambi's protagonist, 16-year-old Hilda, or Bambi, as her... 

On citation law, De Wereld Draait Door and John de Mol's claim robot (Angry Spirits Podcast with Ewout Jansen)

In 2014 publiceerde De snijtafel een bespreking van De Wereld Draait Door. Wat niet veel mensen zullen weten is dat voorafgaand aan dat moment achter de schermen een wekenlange strijd werd gevoerd over deze publicatie. De Wereld Draait Door probeerde de aflevering met alle macht tegen te houden door geen toestemming te geven om de beelden te citeren. Aanvankelijk besloot… 

Ilay den Boer pushes boundary between theatre and journalism with 'Solomon's Judgement'

Je Maintiendrai. Holland's motto of arms ('Ik zal handhaven') adorns the beautiful hall of Utrecht's old Post Office, now Library. The motto also watched over the premiere of the performance 'Solomon's Judgement' with which Ilay den Boer now returns to the public. After all, he was not here for a while. He worked for just under a year at the IND, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service,... 

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