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Boulevard

Josine Gilissen strengthens management of Theatre Festival Boulevard

On 1 April 2025, Josine Gilissen will take office as director-director of Theatre Festival Boulevard and Stichting BosseNova in 's-Hertogenbosch. Together with Dana Kibbelaar, she will form the two-headed directorship of both organisations. Kibbelaar has held her role since 2022 and previously formed a duo with Tessa Smeulers, who stepped down after the 2024 edition. The Supervisory Board of Theatre Festival Boulevard has... 

Cloudless 40th edition of Theatre Festival Boulevard

De terugkeer naar de Bossche binnenstad, het prachtige weer, 48.000 bezoekers aan voorstellingen (37.000 verkochte kaarten, 11.000 bezoekers van het gratis programma) en in totaal 100.000 bezoekers van het festival vormden de kroon op het veertigjarig jubileum van Theaterfestival Boulevard.  ‘Een thuiskomst, die het team, de kunstenaars en bezoekers ervaren hebben. Door de centrale ligging van het festivalhart op de Parade… 

'Paris' was wonderful, but has everything to gain when you add 'Den Bosch'. 

Over het randje gaan, grenzen verkennen en verleggen, het uiterste vergen van het bevattingsvermogen van de omstanders, prestaties leveren die niemand verwacht. En kabouters door een bos zien lopen. Of dingen in het water lezen. Een half jongetje de wereld zien redden. De eerste 11 dagen van augustus 2024 waren legendarisch, om nooit te vergeten. En dat allemaal in de… 

The Dancers sought depth with Club Gewalt, delivering a highlight of Boulevard

"How nice it would have been if, as a (male) viewer, I had really been taken out of my comfort zone by the fact that the anger was not so obviously played and commented on. How thought-provoking I would have been when they weren't making goofy faces at their Rudi Carell-German that - if implemented consistently - would have made me laugh.... 

Boulevard-dagboek #3: basilicum verbindt de wereld

Het leuke van festivals als Boulevard in Den Bosch is dat je na een paar dagen vanzelf verbinding legt tussen alles wat je meemaakt. Niet dat alles op elkaar gaat lijken, zoals in de sport. Daar bepaalt een enkele chromosoom of honderdste van een seconde het verschil tussen wereldvrede of de apocalyps. Daar moet alles zo gelijk zijn dat over… 

Boulevard diary #2: Bossche street culture is different

Right by St John's, next to the Tower Stage where Theatre Festival Boulevard holds its talk shows and free live concerts, is 'Tent Purple'. That tent is different, this year. Outside, kids in baggy trainers are doing break moves, inside it is steaming hot. For ten days, Tent Purple is Cypher HQ, the home of Bossche hip-hop and street culture, also known as... 

Boulevard diary #1: Den Bosch has a cosy little village there

Yesterday, someone from Amsterdam told me that he had long thought Boulevard was a provincial version of an Amsterdam rosé party: lots of conviviality, food, drink and mediocre art. Fortunately, after just one visit, he was convinced that something has grown in Den Bosch over the past 40 years that cannot be compared to other Dutch festivals. There... 

Director Tessa Smeulers leaves Boulevard after 15 years

This summer, the fortieth edition of Theatre Festival Boulevard will be celebrated in 's-Hertogenbosch, with new names and old acquaintances. For director-director Tessa Smeulers, this special anniversary year is a moment to change her tack. After 15 years, she will bid farewell to Boulevard on 1 September. Head and heart "For years, my head and heart have been connected to Theatre Festival Boulevard. With great... 

Boulevard on the Parade

Positive opinions for Theatre Festival Boulevard

This week, Fonds Podiumkunsten and the Province of North Brabant announced that Theatre Festival Boulevard will also receive subsidies for the next four years. On Wednesday 3 July, the Performing Arts Fund issued its advice on national cultural subsidies for the period 2025-2028. Theatre Festival Boulevard is extremely proud of the Fund's positive advice. Thank you to the committee who gave us... 

Boulevard on the Parade

Announcement full programme 40th Boulevard

The full programme of the anniversary edition of Theatre Festival Boulevard goes online today at noon. Regular ticket sales start Tuesday 25 June at noon. Friends of Boulevard can buy tickets as early as today. At the same time, the free Boulevard Magazine No 2 will be published, again with many background articles and interviews. Experiencing together Experiencing a spectacle together, which only exists in... 

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Ticket sales 40th edition Boulevard launched

For four decades, 's-Hertogenbosch has turned into a lively stage for inspiring performances and encounters for 11 days in August. Ticket sales for the first fourteen performances of the anniversary edition of Theatre Festival Boulevard started today for Friends (on Tuesday 28 May for everyone). At the same time, the free Boulevard Magazine 1 with background articles and interviews will be published. Celebrating man Since 1985,... 

Boulevard on the Parade

Boulevard theatre festival returns to city centre for good with 40th edition

In August, Theatre Festival Boulevard returns to the city centre of 's-Hertogenbosch. After three wonderful years in the Zuiderpark, the festival heart returns to the Parade. For the past three years, Boulevard built its festival heart in the Zuiderpark, with an annex on the Parade and performances right across the city. The renovation of Theater aan de Parade and the, by the... 

boulevard poster

Boulevard puts in the light and connects

The 39th edition of Theaterfestval has concluded successfully. The 11-day festival in 's-Hertogenbosch attracted around 90,000 visitors. This Boulevard was a celebration of what binds us as human beings: our desires, our bodies, our emotions. This Boulevard was about radical empathy. About learning to live together, understanding wordlessly, caring for each other and enjoying ourselves together. Strikingly frequent in this was the relationship between generations... 

PR image by David van Delden

Faizah Grootens: Corpus Criolla enriches modern dance with essential Caribbean vibes on #TFBoulevard

"I select dancers very carefully. I don't do auditions. I don't believe in anyone having to prove themselves in front of the others. So that's why I take quite a long time to choose who I want to work with. If I choose that person, we go for it 100%. No matter what." Corpus Criolla is a fascinating dance performance in which Caribbean... 

It Takes A Child To Raise A Village, scene image by author.

Theatre festival #Boulevard pushes boundaries in an unexpected way

A festival is still the best way to get acquainted with new art. Yesterday, after six days of persistent drizzle and torrential rain, the sun finally broke through over Bossche Zuiderpark. Bartenders who had spent the first few days getting used to quietly serving those few customers who braved the rain for a white wine (because it was summer... 

Scenic photo by Kurt van der Elst

Life is wonderfully absurd, and Elias de Bruyne makes fine theatre about it.

In preparing my coverage of Theatre Festival Boulevard, I had also put 'interview with Elias de Bruyne' on my wish list. It didn't materialise, which is fortunate in retrospect, because Cornald Maas beat me to it. At least, Cornald Maas interviewed Elias de Bruyne during his performance 'Euhm... In 5 Acts', which premiered on Saturday 5 August. Well... 

Desire. Photo by Sofie Knijf

'Desire' is highlight of telling opening weekend of Theatre Festival Boulevard

"You can't say anything anymore either" is the title of a show by theatre friends George and Eran from Amsterdam-West. They have previously presented sensitive themes in a theatre form close to stand-up comedy, and so this programme is about the language battle. A language battle about which words are still appropriate, which stereotypes are still 'allowed' and... 

Yves Degryse by Koen Broos

Yves Degryse (Berlin) on the return of the legendary show 'Zvizdal' at #Theaterfestival Boulevard: "This really took me by my jacket"

Yves Degryse is one of the people behind the extraordinary Flemish company Berlin. Between 2011 and 2015, Berlin worked on the performance Zvizdal, largely shot in the 'forbidden zone' around the exploded Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. I saw the performance in 2016 in Den Bosch, during Festival Boulevard, and was 'blown away'. This year, it returns to Boulevard 

PR image Desire

Podcast! Louis Janssens on 'Desire': 'It's nice to be personal, but I don't want to make a diary play, so I also lie quite often.' #TFBOULEVARD

Louis Janssens is a young, ambitious theatre-maker from Flanders. With a string of rave reviews behind his name, he seems to have effortlessly found his place in the theatre world. This year, he is a prominent guest at Theatre Festival Boulevard in Den Bosch. His latest play, 'Desire', will premiere at the Verkadefabriek on 3 August. The play highlights the delicate... 

boulevard poster

European apotheosis at Theatre Festival Boulevard: Two international networks celebrate highlight during festival

In recent years, Boulevard worked intensively within two networks with 20 European partner institutions on international cooperation within the performing arts, supported by 'Creative Europe'. Both projects are guests during this edition of Theatre Festival Boulevard, which can be called unique! Performing Gender - Dancing in Your Shoes celebrates its finale with the presentation of a number of community projects and a... 

Photo: Thomas, Sacha and Jos | Edit: Guy Vording

Theatre show 'Two old ladies' by Toon Tellegen at Boulevard Theatre Festival 

Theatre collective Thomas, Sacha and Jos creates performance about universal love After years of fruitful cooperation with master storyteller Toon Tellegen and several performances based on his work, theatre collective Thomas, Sacha and Jos will perform Two Little Old Ladies at this summer's Theatre Festival Boulevard. Tellegen's book consists of 43 love stories, each starring two little old ladies. Thomas, Sacha and Jos made a... 

boulevard poster

Boulevard full programme announced

It's time to get puzzling: the full programme of Boulevard 2023 is available from now on. In addition, Boulevard Magazine 2 is also out, containing background articles, filters to help you choose and, of course, a look at this year's programme. Brain gymnastics Earlier, we already announced thirteen names and now you can find the complete programme.... 

The most revealing summer festival: theatre festival Boulevard 2022 in Den Bosch

It could be because of the weather, or my mood, but 2022 was one of the best editions of Theatre Festival Boulevard I have experienced in decades. From the interesting, and also a little disruptive opening to the final night, which I experienced yesterday, I saw guts, passion and pushed boundaries. Not everywhere all at once, but... 

Two Rotterdammers who made a deep impression at Theatre Festival Boulevard #tfboulevard

John Buijsman and Helmert Woudenberg make a very funny duo. Buijsman the archetypal Rotterdammer, certainly also in terms of tone of voice, but also the actor who is role-steady, playing distinct characters. In De Recreanten, a play he made for and about his own holiday resort in Hoek van Holland, he plays together with Helmert Woudenberg. The creator of continuous improvisation has a... 

Podcast! Editie 2022 baadt in zomerwarmte en vindt een nieuw hart. (lyrisch? Ja.) #tfboulevard

We maken halverwege deze editie van Theaterfestival Boulevard in Den Bosch de balans op. Host Wijbrand Schaap doet dat samen met Dana Kibbelaar, sinds dit jaar lid van de tweehoofdige directie (met Tessa Smeulers), schrijver en journalist Jowi Schmitz, danscriticus Helen Westerik, en de makers Oscar Kocken en Jellie Schippers. We hebben het over wat er zo bijzonder is aan… 

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