Peter the Great: the curious tsar is back in Amsterdam
The Netherlands-Russia year is kicking off and what better way to start than with an exhibition dedicated to the most famous Russian of all time? At
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Prokofiev's satirical fairy tale is a visual feast
What makes an opera a success? The eccentrics, airheads, comedians, lyricists and tragicists think they know, proclaiming their point of view at the craziest times and not even bothering to intervene in the action. Welcome to the wonderful world of Prokofiev's L'amour des trois oranges, back on stage this month at the Amsterdam musical theatre.
Prokofiev fairytale opera on repeat
In 2005, director Laurent Pelly and conductor Stéphane Denève enchanted Dutch audiences with their vision of L'amour des trois oranges By Sergei Prokofiev.
Crystal Pite: 'The most exciting choreographer on the planet'
Advertorial Mysterious shadows. Puppets controlled by dozens of invisible hands and music that emphasises the very silence. An evening with Crystal Pite is an adventurous journey into the unknown regions of our imagination. On 7 February 2013
Only in final scene does Guillaume Tell bathe in golden sunlight
After more than four hours, it happens: emotion. Free Switzerland is bathed in golden sunlight and the choir swells over the most beautiful orchestral sounds Rossini composed. Unworldly sounds, which have little to do with the best-known sounds from Guillaume Tell - The canter from the overture.
Utrecht deploys army at opening of festive year
200 military personnel and JunkieXL are expected to cause a spectacle on the A2 motorway near Utrecht on 13 April. The roof of the new tunnel trench will be the stage for a battle of medieval proportions, in which peace will be conquered by our army over something with a wall and 'war' on it.
'Mogadishu' fits into zeitgeist of moral confusion
Once upon a time, subsidised theatre was a left-wing hobby. Now, two years on, subsidised theatre has effortlessly conformed to the prevailing, much more right-wing trend.
Writers Unlimited 2013: about writers and people with a story #wu13
Whether Tahmina Akefi is a good writer, I dare not say. The Afghan beauty can at least glue sentences together, and knows how to add an erotic layer on top. But whether this means she surpasses the average penny novel, or whether she has nothing to offer but oriental soft porn anyway? Tricky.
Really free poetry can be learned #wu13
We spoke briefly at Writers Unlimited 2013 with the woman who has been giving workshops in poetry to schoolchildren for a few years now. And we wondered again if rap wasn't enough for them, those kids. No. So it turns out. And she explains it clearly.
'For me, only the text exists' - Alberto Manguel & Hans Goedkoop on black pages #wu13
With a jam-packed programme like Writers Unlimited 2013, it sometimes happens that, even as a professional journalist, despite everything, you end up dropping in somewhere too late, and then just catching a glimpse of something really great. In this case, after the tour de force of Amos Oz and Adriaan van Dis, was that Kenyan Ngwatilo Mawiyoo's spoken word performance. Mea culpa for that.
Presenters can make a Winternight. And break it. #wu13
And then, just like that, you can miss the highlight of the first Winternacht because you don't pull it together with a presenter. Flemish author Bart van Loo, according to many a twitterer, seems to have uttered beautiful sentences in the programme 'Daar geef ik mijn leven voor', but that was well after midnight and I was already
A lot of Oz & a little Van Dis on impossible dreams and ideals #wu13
During the kick-off of Winternacht 1, publicist Bas Heijne brought the two literary giants Amos Oz and Adriaan van Dis closer together. What remains of their former idealism? Oz's barrage of wonderful one-liners proved difficult to tame and made for a hilarious but somewhat unbalanced conversation.
Heartfelt plea against Arab shame culture #wu13
Lebanese writer Hanaan al-Shaykh (Beirut, Lebanon, 1945) opened Wrtiters Unlimited on Thursday 17 January with a blazing argument against Arab culture of shame. This, according to the writer whose books The story of Zahra, Women between sky and sand, Beirut blues and Only in London have been translated into Dutch, so deep in
'Readers need to be approached in a different way'
Writers Unlimited Special - One of the important guests at Writers Unlimited is Roland Colastica. This Curaçao author made his debut in 2012 with the children's book 'Fireworks in my head'. The book was enthusiastically received, and has since grown into a modest bestseller. Great strength of the story is its colourful and rhythmic style, but just as important is
Theatres take matters into their own hands
As the government has killed the entire circuit of production houses and further education, seven theatres have jumped into the gap. They are joining forces to enable a number of 'young' makers to develop their work after all. By offering a number of performances in advance
'Anti-Greek' facade banner Theatre Frog destroyed after protests
We received this via Facebook: "During the night of Friday 11 to Saturday 12 January at 1.30am, a group of about seven young men destroyed a large canvas hanging on the facade of Theatre Kikker on the Ganzenmarkt in Utrecht. The canvas, which
Rotterdam Theatre: more music, more visitors
Everywhere, arts attendance is falling dramatically, except, for now, in Rotterdam. There, the Rotterdamnse Schouwburg managed to keep the number of paying visitors the same, or even increase slightly to over 147,500, in its first real cultural disaster year 2012. In its own press release, the management (currently in the hands of Jan Zoet) attributes this to sharper programming and revivals of successful productions, and an increase in the number of concerts:
2012 cinema year: attendance stable, Skyfall and Intouchables top the list
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the 2012 cinema year was that two completely different films were the biggest crowd-pleasers. First, the new James Bond Skyfall, of course, with almost 2 million visits. But that the number two (1.2 million) is a
Peter van Onna: 'Treaty of Utrecht is also topical now'
Three hundred years ago, the Treaty of Utrecht was signed, bringing an end to both the War of Spanish Succession, and the War of Queen Anne. Remarkably, this peace treaty was not negotiated on the battlefield, but at the negotiating table. It took a year and a half for the many parties to come to an agreement, and the treaty counts as the beginning of...
Rejected for a missed rule overturn?
Unrest in poetry land. By a error 'obscurity' in the website of the National Turing Poem Contest several hundred poems disappeared from the competition probably for the wrong reasons. Alexis de Roode, herself a multiple prize winner, raised the issue on facebook.
Dutch opening Film Festival Rotterdam 2013, which this year also embraces television
Fifteen years after Peter Delpeuts Felice, Felice the International Film Festival Rotterdam gets another Dutch opening. The 42nd edition of this leading event will kick off on 23 January with the world premiere of The resurrection of an asshole by Guido van Driel, festival director Rutger Wolfson announced this afternoon.
Another necro. Sort of: Theatre Institute Netherlands to continue as TIN Foundation
We are just reporting the press release in full. For your information. Every now and then, more news like this comes along. We don't post them all, because that would make the world very bleak. The world as many people knew it, and thought it was the pride of the Netherlands, is coming to a squeaking halt to make room for. Well. We will report on that in the years to come. Of what comes in its place.
Simon McBurney makes Die Zauberflöte magical
A sound engineer making deafening sounds on stage with wads of paper. Puppetry that flows seamlessly into film projections and singers dubbed by actors. A primitive stage on stage that is, however, high tech. A performance in one of the largest halls in our country, but reminiscent of a flat-floor performance. A flat floor that can move in all directions, though, and could just as easily be a slope or a ceiling, that is.
Anna Mikhailova: 'Black Perfume is about addiction and fear'
Amsterdam, 10-12-2012 - Last weekend the Babelfestival began at the Ostade Theatre, an initiative of the Diamond factory. Founded two years ago, this production group offers young creators the chance to develop small-scale musical theatre. This weekend sees the premiere of Black Perfume, by Russian composer Anna Mikhailova and the Dutch director Annechien Koerselman, to the story Morphine by Mikhail Bulgakov.
'In STUT I process what I experience' Community Arts Lab is exciting as well as relaxing. #vvu
STUT is a household name. The neighbourhood theatre group has been putting on performances with and about ordinary people from ordinary Utrecht neighbourhoods since 1977. In 2010, the theatre group gave birth to the Stutkoor, which is now taking part in the exchange project of the community art lab for the Treaty of Utrecht celebrations in 2013.
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