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THEATER

With text, movement, actors, sets.

Photo: Monique van de Wijdeven

The 10 theatre performances you actually wanted to see in 2014, even if you had to leave Amsterdam for half of them

It's raining annual lists and we're merrily joining in. As subjective as anyone, after all, no one sees everything, and opinions on taste can always differ. Of course, also in this list many performances in or from the Randstad, but half of them were not yet shown there. And all genres mixed together. As long as it is theatre. With the only limitation: no repeats, apologies Ring and Lohengrin (DNO), St John Passion (NRO). And no dance, because for that our partner dance audience. 

Read More "The 10 theatre performances you actually wanted to see in 2014, even if you had to leave Amsterdam for half of them

The Hague takes the lead in rejuvenating theatre landscape: De Vroedt not going to Rotterdam

Eric de Vroedt will succeed Theu Boermans at the Nationale Toneel in The Hague in 2018. The company announced this in a press release today. This puts an end to speculation surrounding the future of theatre-maker De Vroedt. Indeed, he had long been mentioned as Alize Zandwijk's successor at the ro Theater in Rotterdam,... 

Read More "The Hague takes the lead in rejuvenating theatre landscape: De Vroedt not going to Rotterdam

Open, flexible and on top of everything: 9 expected and unexpected tasks for the theatre of the future

What does the theatre of the future look like? That question Odeon De Spiegel Theatres posed to the FMT Workforce, the online brainstorming environment of our partner Fast Moving Targets. We also brought the message here. Odeon and De Spiegel are two theatres in Zwolle. Well-run theatres, but always looking for the new opportunities offered by new technologies and developments.... 

Read More "Open, flexible and on top of everything: 9 expected and unexpected tasks for the theatre of the future
Stefan de Walle and Ariane Schluter in Friday, photo Kurt van der Elst

Living on with indigestible guilt to each other's ruined existence: National Theatre plays Hugo Claus' Friday

Georges Vermeersch comes home early from prison, where he was serving a sentence for incest with his daughter Christiane. In the meantime, his wife Jeanne has had a child by younger neighbour Erik. So how to move on? Casper Vandeputte directed an intense, haunting version of Hugo Claus' play Friday at the Nationale Toneel. Lead actors Stefan de... 

Read More "Living on with indigestible guilt to each other's ruined existence: National Theatre plays Hugo Claus' Friday

Google and facebook take over role of galleries, publishers and impresarios

For most artists, it is an ideal. Being represented by a gallery. Writers have their sights set on a contract with a publisher. Musicians eye labels eagerly and theatre-makers queue up for an impresario. Creators have a love-hate relationship with such intermediaries. Because while the average creative professional would be willing to spare a toe in exchange... 

Read More "Google and facebook take over role of galleries, publishers and impresarios

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

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.

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

Maas Theatre and Dance's Greeks: compelling and bewildering for young and old alike

First story. A naked king crawls at the feet of a woman. She is much taller than him, a goddess. High above him, she holds a bunch of grapes in her hand. Hungry he is! He wants those grapes, all of them. His body is vulnerable. It seems to shiver in the open air. But when it comes to the coveted food, he fetches... 

Read More "Maas Theatre and Dance's Greeks: compelling and bewildering for young and old alike

Meppelgate! (2): Living in Meppel is also a choice.

You could wait for it. Meppelgate. Marieke Heebink, top actress with Toneelgroep Amsterdam, had the audacity to say in the newspaper that she is happy to be in a sold-out 'Angels in America' in New York. "Thank God I don't have to go to Meppel" she says. Aj. Aj. How dare she! That is guaranteed to generate angry reactions. And not just from Meppel.... 

Read More "Meppelgate! (2): Living in Meppel is also a choice.
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.

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... 

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

'I feel the need to make everything right in the world stronger than ever.' Laura van Dolron on 'Loving'

Previously, her performance allowed her to think heartbreakingly through love, infatuation and heartbreak. Now her performance is about love in the broadest possible sense. Earlier, she made theatre in which she wrestled with questions. Now she shows that struggle much less and shares the answers she has found with the audience. Earlier, she could still claim... 

Read More "'I feel the need to make everything right in the world stronger than ever.' Laura van Dolron on 'Loving'

Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (7): 'If the knowledge is lost, so is the heritage.'

Wijbrand Schaap: 'Just one more point. Then we're almost through.' Joop Daalmeijer: 'Continue quietly, we have until half past five.' Wijbrand Schaap: 'We have a problem with real estate. A lot of inner cities are empty. Shop premises are empty, downtown office buildings are unrentable. What do the municipalities say? Put artists in them. Cost nothing, because for free rent they do... 

Read More "Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (7): 'If the knowledge is lost, so is the heritage.'

Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (5) "All balls on Amsterdam", I'm not into that at all.

Wijbrand Schaap: 'Now on the role of cities. One of the reactions on our site is about the role of the randstad in cultural policy. Melle Daamen puts the primacy in the randstad, and goes further than the council in this.' Joop Daalmeijer: 'The council has no position yet.' Wijbrand Schaap: 'But there is something in the Culture Outlook. Cities form... 

Read More "Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (5) "All balls on Amsterdam", I'm not into that at all.

Trump the judges. Decide who are the best actors in the Netherlands

Sunday is the Gala of Dutch Theatre. In a sober yet festive setting, the theatre sector celebrates the fact that it still exists. Quite an achievement, even if the minister doesn't think so. Be that as it may. We are going to present awards. And not Oscars, Olivers, or Césars, but Louis, Theo, Colombina and Arlecchino. How that came about? Tradition.... 

Read More "Trump the judges. Decide who are the best actors in the Netherlands

Proven: theatre-goers seek intellectual satisfaction and hardly ever read reviews

Drama reviews mainly fill a need among artists and journalists. Newspaper readers hardly use them. In London, this has been studied. Only 36 per cent of theatre-goers say they read reviews. Much more value fans place on tips from friends and family. Last Saturday at Amsterdam's De Balie debate centre, there was a discussion between theatre-makers,... 

Read More "Proven: theatre-goers seek intellectual satisfaction and hardly ever read reviews

'Grandiose' opening Theatre Festival doesn't quite take away the pain

"Grand opening, right?" Jeffrey Meulman, the man who as director of the ailing Theatre Festival gave the word "inspired" a new dimension, was delighted. It was Thursday night, September 4, 2014. Shortly before, I had seriously considered jumping from the 1st balcony of the Stadsschouwburg, rather than applauding Tauerbach, the opening performance of The Theatre Festival. It is... 

Read More "'Grandiose' opening Theatre Festival doesn't quite take away the pain

Three reasons to go to Medea

For the second consecutive year, the Festival of Early Music is organising a Laboratory, in which young creators can learn about their craft. This year's programme features Medea by Czech composer Georg Benda. This 'melodrama', an alternation of spoken text with music, was a resounding success at its premiere in 1775. Musicologist Jed Wentz and scholar Mary Helen Dupree revived it... 

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8 essential lessons Dutch theatres can learn from festivals - and vice versa

Declining visitor numbers, shrinking subsidies, impoverished programming: most Dutch theatres are struggling, research by NRC Handelsblad recently showed. Theatres welcomed 12 million visitors in 2012, according to NRC figures, a quarter less than in 2008. Festivals, on the other hand, are on the rise. More and more are being organised, and they are attracting more and more people - in total... 

Read More "8 essential lessons Dutch theatres can learn from festivals - and vice versa

Johan Simons to Ruhr, Rotterdam, Den Bosch, Vienna, Ghent. And Varik.

He is the greatest director in the Netherlands. But also the least honourable theatre-maker we know: Johan Simons. The man whose star has been rising since the 1980s is now in Munich. But he is not staying there. After putting the local company Kammerspiele even more firmly on the map internationally, he is looking for new challenges. Den Bosch earlier reported... 

Read More "Johan Simons to Ruhr, Rotterdam, Den Bosch, Vienna, Ghent. And Varik.

Hamlet more in demand than Jay Z and Beyoncé. That can only happen in the UK

We are talking about the summer of 2015. Then Benedict Cumberbatch will play the title role in Hamlet, to be seen at the Barbican Centre in London. For the show, which plays for 12 weeks, 214% more tickets have already been sold in the first few hours after ticket sales opened yesterday than for Jay Z and Beyoncé's tour, which is on the same... 

Read More "Hamlet more in demand than Jay Z and Beyoncé. That can only happen in the UK

A performance that really makes you feel the futility of war. Demarrage by Charlotte Caeckaert on @tfboulevard

Flemish actors can speak. Flemish actors usually don't need microphones to make themselves understood over a storm, or from 100 metres away in the open air. Charlotte Caeckaert is one such actress who can do all that, and such technique is a joy to witness. She also writes lyrics, and that's where things go a little wrong.... 

Read More "A performance that really makes you feel the futility of war. Demarrage by Charlotte Caeckaert on @tfboulevard

Hearing stories of loss. And cry about it. But then? Separate from the Southern Theatre on @tfboulevard.

Two actors who, together with their director, want to create a performance about loss. Or rather: our fear of losing things, or people. The makers are not quite there yet, it turns out at Theatre Festival Boulevard. From numerous conversations with thinkers and (experiential) experts, they have distilled characters while improvising, which they - separated by a thick... 

Read More "Hearing stories of loss. And cry about it. But then? Separate from the Southern Theatre on @tfboulevard.

God has no humour. And his name is Frank. Days by Studio Gebroed on @tfboulevard

Nerd theatre with electric dings and funny little mechanisms. I love it. Seen something on a construction scaffold in the last century with a starring role for taunting bench sanders and droning derricks. I was hoping for something like this with Studio Gebroed's 'Days', but was a little disappointed. The premise is fun, of course: we follow a creator who, in a few days like this, creates a very nice... 

Read More "God has no humour. And his name is Frank. Days by Studio Gebroed on @tfboulevard

What someone else's house does to you: Peeping by Lieke Benders on @tfboulevard

There were people who simply looked in the kitchen cupboards even though the guide expressly forbade it. That type of person, who probably also asks for ketchup at every meal, was one of the more interesting discoveries during the walk you could take in den Bosch, titled 'Peeping'. The performance is an example of 'experiential theatre': theatre without a clear storyline or message,... 

Read More "What someone else's house does to you: Peeping by Lieke Benders on @tfboulevard

8 enticing words about Festival Boulevard.

It is the most ambitious summer festival in the Netherlands: Festival Boulevard in Den Bosch aims to showcase not only the finest theatre theatre theatre in the low countries, but also the fattest shows, and youngest new creators and the merriest bus drivers. And all that in 10 days, in once tad where the local newspaper does its best to promote culture as scary as possible to make. We briefly summarise it for you in eight enticing words.

Read More "8 enticing words about Festival Boulevard.

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