Anything for which people enter a stage.
In the French-speaking world, everyone has read l'Étranger (The Foreigner) by Albert Camus. The 1942 book, which many Dutch people have also read, if only because it is nice and thin for the French reading list, tells the story of a white French resident of Algeria, a so-called pied-noir, who is so convinced of the absurdity of life that he becomes a...
On Tuesday 31 May, the new ballet company The United Ukrainian Ballet was presented to the public at the old Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Ukrainian dancers who fled to the Netherlands have found a new home in this company under the direction of ballerina Igone de Jongh. When I walked into the conservatory before the presentation, I could immediately make out a crying Ukrainian girl...
Just for fun, name one literary or cultural classic Dutch work that you are sure people around you know about. And I mean a work, like a book or a play, that pops up every few years in the lists, on our stages, in our cinemas. Something that everyone, even now, is on...
For its 75th edition, the Holland Festival is teaming up with the Melkweg and club Lofi for some exciting evening and night programmes. On 3 and 24 June, the unpolished atmosphere of Lofi in the Westelijk Havengebied will allow for late-night partying, while on 20 June the Melkweg will be the place to be. During these three nights, co...
Plein Theater and Nieuwe Noten Amsterdam present a new season of contemporary chamber music concerts from May to December 2022! The next concert at Plein Theater on Sunday 29 May features Greek violinist Tania Sikelianou as a guest in honour of the 100th birthday of Greek composer Iannis Xenakis. On Sunday 19 June, Trio Napolov, Fridman, Sandee will play on the piano,...
Asko|Schönberg premieres Mary Finsterer's new opera at the Holland Festival. Antarctica takes us into the mysterious world of the southern continent. A multidisciplinary performance in which the Australian composer links historical, mythical and scientific images and stories about Antarctica. In doing so, she uses an enchanting combination of musical elements from old and new styles....
The Volkskrant on 18 May this year carried a scoop about strikes and drop-outs among technical staff at the country's largest company: ITA. In Trouw on the same day, the united theatre directors (VSCD) sounded the alarm about the lack of technicians. It is even so bad "that performances have to be cancelled". Two reasons in particular are cited: technicians have...
From now on, can we agree to replace all DJs with real drummers? I mean, what I witnessed at the premiere of Eros, Schweigman&'s latest project, was so overwhelming, I can't imagine I've ever gone out of my mind on a drum machine. Two living drummers, splashing and at the same time individually starring at the...
On Monday 16 May, the Safe on the Floor conference took place at Amare (The Hague). This conference was organised to address transgressive behaviour at the workplace in the cultural sector and discuss how to tackle it. The conference was opened by state secretary of culture and media Gunay Uslu. During the opening, NAPK board member Ernestine Comvalius presented...
In Flanders, or rather in its cultural capital, Antwerp, the theatre sector is faltering. The Toneelhuis, founded in the late 1990s as a merger between the legendary Blauwe Maandag Compagnie and city company KNS, is in crisis after the departure of Guy Cassiers. It is now losing more than half of its grant after a scathing opinion. The Flemish government is stopping...
'For me, the world of Wotan equals the world of Putin.' Christopher Ruping, director of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen to be shown in Amsterdam in June, makes no bones about it: 'Siegfried [central character of Wagner's monster production, ws] is a very problematic character. He kills the dragon without asking questions. We give the dragon...
Who should apologise for the history of slavery and what happens when apologies are made? Theatre group Aluin and Raymi Sambo Makes are jointly creating the theatre performance Ik zeg toch sorry about the history of slavery. The premiere is next June during Oerol. After the summer, a theatre tour will follow from September to December 2022. I say sorry anyway is an exciting fusion...
The comparison with the Derksen affair cited in this article no longer holds true as of this date, as the TV personality has been restored to full glory by the television station that previously 'cancelled' him. From Monday 16 May, he will return to his old role as a 'grumpy old man' in Today Inside. See the link here.
The Underground NITE, 5 to 22 May; Chilling Nature Pictures Saturday matinee, 14 May The Underground The Underground is a gritty, witty and tragic performance by director Guy Weizman and the NITE ensemble (NNT, Club Guy & Roni, Asko|Schönberg, Slagwerk Den Haag). The performance is inspired by Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky; a monologue by a man who has suffered many blows...
Once upon a time, Ben Frost started out as a composer of laden ambient music. Not necessarily upbeat, more contemplative and just a little depressing of the kind that can be used to add some colour to a dip. Take the piece "You, Me and the End of Everything," which can be found on YouTube. Compared to the score of The Murder of Halit Yozgat,...
cut-ups & fuck-ups, Berio & Burroughs Saturday 3 September With Words & Music, Asko|Schönberg serves you an afternoon and evening full of cut-ups & fuck-ups. A rush of sensations; fantastic, grim, absurd, disruptive and with humour. A festival full of cut-up, cut-up and brand-new performances, installations, film and more, inspired by the cut-up techniques of composer Berio and writer Burroughs. After the...
Ok. One time I will say it. That Yara Piekema is the daughter of Harry Piekema. You know: that man who single-handedly gave that Zaanse Grootgrutter a human face. Harry was already a big one in Utrecht, and now it turns out he secretly, years ago, gave birth to an even bigger one: Yara Piekema, no longer the daughter of,...
On Good Friday, I, working for the Immigration and Naturalisation Service IND, attended the 100th performance of Solomon's Judgement at the Lourdes Church in Scheveningen. Wijbrand Schaap visited the confrontational theatre production in July 2021 and wrote back then about the perils of an asylum procedure at the IND. Where does the performance stand now? Just in a nutshell: in Salomon's Judgement, three actors do...
How beautiful art for children can be when a real artist is involved. When themes like death, falling in love, loneliness and exclusion are made palpable in such a beautiful way that you step outside with a deeper feeling about life? With theatre-maker Moniek Merkx, you can. A year ago, she stepped down as artistic director of...
That you are suddenly back in 1996 at Black Snow, the television series in which actress Tamar van den Dop managed to hook an entire generation of viewers at the time. Since then, her raven-black curls have turned into a dazzling cloud of silver, but those who go to the National Theatre's Distress trilogy suddenly see that young Tamar again. A miracle of talent in...
So that we never forget that the Netherlands also needed help to become free. Ksenia tours the Netherlands with her theatre show 'They Saw War' and plays on liberation commemorations. Or on days when a town, village or hamlet was liberated in 1945. She follows the trail of the liberators. In 75 minutes, Ksenia takes the audience into the lives of...
Now that the cultural sector can slowly but surely put the corona crisis and lockdowns behind it, it is time to look back. How have they done, the theatres, the clubs? Earlier, this site discussed the book TivoliVredenburg wrote about its first year (Off/On). Now it's time to look at how a theatre in 'the region' managed the...
Utrecht - Utrecht dance company De Dansers received the first Harm Lambers Building Stone for Special Art in Utrecht on 10 April. During a festive evening in Theater Kikker, one of the initiators, Paul Feld, presented this challenge trophy to De Dansers. Jury report De Dansers, led by choreographer Josephine van Rheenen and composer Guy Corneille is...
Saturday 23 April, 2.15pm and 4pm: Stairway to Music by Asko|Schönberg and the Muziekgebouw is an intimate 40-minute listening experience on the steps of Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. Stairway to Music is inspired by a story told at the farewell gathering of conductor/pianist Reinbert de Leeuw, who died in 2020. When Reinbert played the piano in his flat, people would take...
The programming for next season is largely known and ticket sales have started. Below is the overview of the programmes from September to December 2022. Asko|Schönberg opens season 2022/2023 on Saturday 3 September with festival Words & Music, a day full of cut-ups and fuck-ups inspired by Berio and Burroughs. Also many new works by Richard Ayres, Jan van de Putte, Arnold...
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