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SPECIALS

News about events and festivals, backed by the industry but independent in content. Find out more: info@cultureelpersbureau.nl

'Our' New York dodo reviewers saw the Wooster Group's Le Vieux Carré and were thrilled

Admittedly, our method of reviewing (see our contributions on Springdance and De Internationale Keuze) is new to the Netherlands, but in the States a few were already doing it. For example, the two yummy guys Andrew and Andrew are doing well with their iPhones, doing the same as the Dodo with the Kodak Zi8 (no shares, though we would love to be sponsored... 

From Broadway musical to Lebanese Nightingale: Pierre Audi proudly shows the programme of the 2011 edition

His Dutch has never been his strongest point, and he doesn't like to speak either. Still, a Holland Festival press conference is something to be at, so we take Pierre Audi's lesser performing skills for granted. in February, he presented the programme of the 2011 edition, which promises to be a very nice one, and which hopefully will not be the... 

The deeper caverns of an adult film festival. Sven Schlijper on safari during IFFR 2011

The International Film Festival Rotterdam celebrates its fortieth edition with a fitting XL programme. That Roman numeral XL not only indicates respectable age. It also says something about size: this fortieth also bursts with the intiguing programme, with screenings at no less than forty locations throughout the inner city of Rotterdam. Inside the festival walls is... 

What Bert Hana can do, you don't learn at any school: turn your own life into art. #njc10

Wonderful though theatre is. The closing night of the Autumn Collection festival made me realise once again that the best actors do not always make the best performance. Expressiveness depends on more than acting talent and a proven literary text.

Two idols and lots of cute girls at Saturday's Autumn Collection #njc10

It stood out: what a lot of cute girls in Theatre Kikker. Could it be because of the programming? Now there were a lot of cute men to choose from on Saturday night. The tough acting beasts of FC Bergman, for instance, or the androgynous Nik van den Berg, or perhaps the seemingly sweet Bert Hana. And if not, there was always DJ Oscar Kocken,... 

Bouncing along with the funny, touching, uncontrollable Ray in Renske van den Broek's musical theatre performance Fast Car #njc10

Irrepressible, funny, touching Fast Car Ray. A boy whose head is never still, who does not sleep, to whom everything comes in and who just cannot manage to love himself. His illness, Tourette's Syndrome, makes him delusional and desperate. Tick-tock. On and on, on and on. Like a racing car.

Sometimes a story is beautiful enough when told: Autoroute du Soleil by Leen Verheyen demonstrates that

Once upon a time, a very long time ago in a different country from today, there was a play about a boy from Bosnia who made crowds cry. Ad de Bont had not only written a sensitive story with Mirad, a boy from Bosnia, but he also found the perfect way to deliver that story. It from letters to and from a... 

Juries TF and VSCD merge

It was actually typically Dutch. After all, we have more awards to give away here in all parts of the creative sector than there are artists. Almost. And so all those awards have their own selection committees, juries, committees and you name it. Not only costs hands full of money, it is also cumbersome. Which is why there is now at least one sensible... 

French theatre nerds do droll version of the Big Bang at reopening Rotterdam Schouwburg

Ok, a few people might have been a tad disappointed. Who had hoped that Rotterdam's theatre would reopen with real bang, after the extremely successful upgrade of the interior by scrap artist Jan Versweyveld (suspended ceiling, marble and carpet on the stairs). But that, of course, cannot happen. After all, the Rotterdam Schouwburg only does bangers when International Choice boss Annemie Vanackere is there... 

Getting a whiff of Lotte van den Berg's special approach, fresh back from Africa

What she does is vulnerable to the point of confrontation. Theatre-maker Lotte van den Berg has such a personal view of the world that, outside the safe context of theatre, it can come across as absurd. Or alienating. On Sunday 26 September, she returned with the members of her Dordrecht-based location theatre company OMSK back from a four-month stay in the Congo capital Kinshasa. A full house in Rotterdam's Gouvernestraat then got to be there when they unpacked their bags a few hours after landing.

Physical theatre, dance and boating on the pond at the Westergasfabriek site

It is occasionally quite chilly on the Westergasfabriek grounds where three Fringe performances are on show. On Thursday night, they are Levelless by Theatre Group WAK, Vivarium #3 by LORNA Collective and Kaat by Eva Knibbe, respectively. The cold, however, is no killjoy. The physical jokes in Levelless (or Recht not in Dutch) are a bit like... 

'I like beer' in C'est du Chinois sounds quite nice #dekeuze.

The teachers recite it, a whistle sounds. The audience mimics it, like wax in the hands of the five Chinese on stage. Anyone who walks into the performance C'est du Chinois walks into a Mandarin language lesson. An effective language lesson besides, you understand the two small families-they have only been in the country for four months but plan to... 

'House without a maid' at Huis Sonneveld inspiring microcosm of light and space #dekeuze

An intimate living room conference among living works of art. That is the best way to describe 'House without a maid, a "conversation, performance and installation project" by Jorge León and Simone Aughterlony at Huis Sonneveld. In the former garage of the 1932 modernist villa, a select group of women gathered for two days to discuss the phenomenon of the maid. In other rooms of the imposing... 

Polyphonic 'Deserve' stunningly profound composition about service #dekeuze

'So, Dr Lacan, are women more susceptible to madness? ... Is the man susceptible to hysteria?' In 'Deserve', part of Jorge León and Simone Aughterlony's triptych about the maid, the makers dig deep, very deep. They follow the intriguing line of the great debunkers in our history of thought: from Hegel's master-slave analysis through Marx and Freud to French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. Core of... 

Introverted Choice debate at The Union: Artist as participatory sociologist #thechoice

This year's debate season in Rotterdam opened in the renovated hall of De Unie. The newly completed space has a pleasant and intimate feel. All the more remarkable the statement by discussion leader Natasja van den Berg that questions from the floor are not allowed "because they are not about anything anyway". That doesn't exactly sound like a warm welcome in a debate centre. Admittedly, it did deliver... 

René Pollesch: cancelled, but maybe too good for the Netherlands anyway

Over the next few days, the show Der perfekte Tag - Ruhrtrilogie Teil 3 by German director René Pollesch was due to play at De Internationale Keuze in Rotterdam. But unfortunately, the main actor, Fabian Hinrichs, broke his leg and the performance had to be cancelled. What are we missing now? In recent years, I saw a number of performances by René in Berlin... 

Sixteen personal stories paint a moving picture of Rotterdam's multicolour. #he Choice

She has 14 first names because her father liked to name his whole family and she was an only child. She is an in-demand actress, but Gonny Gaakeer has also been a girl with a grandmother. A beautiful grandmother, who in the last years of her 95-year-old life fell over more and more often and bore the ugly wounds of it. Gonny tells her story, and... 

Kees Hulst and Maria Kraakman win Louis d'Or and Theo d'Or at 'prize circus' Gala of Dutch Theatre #tf2010

At the Gala van het Nederlands Theater at the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg last night, the most important theatre awards were presented. Kees Hulst won the Louis d'Or for the most impressive male leading role, the role of Jörgen Hofmeester in' Tirza' at the Nationale Toneel. Maria Kraakman won the Theo d'Or for the most impressive female supporting role, Orlando in Toneelgroep Oostpool's production of the same name. The play 'Oog om Oog', with Linda van Dyck and Victor Löw, among others, won the AVRO Toneel Publieksprijs.

Actors have ambivalent feelings about 'awards circus', or Gala of Dutch Theatre #tf2010


A red carpet, lots of champagne and more hugging. It is a warm reunion for theatre country, the Gala van het Nederlands Theater in Amsterdam's Stadsschouwburg. An exciting reunion too, as the most important Dutch stage awards will be awarded tonight.

Davis Freeman's investment show ironic reflection on money, power, individual and culture #decision

American Davis Freeman's multimedia show 'Investment' is initially reminiscent of Al Gore's PowerPoint show 'An Unconvenient Truth'. Three performers and a projection computer show the audience a whole range of investment options in a very routine and detailed manner. Initially sensible and sustainable, but soon whole other motives come into play. Piquant detail: everyone from the... 

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