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england

Stella actors Oscar Batterham and Richard Cant © Matthew Hargraves

Neil Bartlett's Stella: so perfect it's a bit irritating #HF16

by Wijbrand Schaap
21 June 201620 February 2017
4 min read
ACTUAL, Holland Festival, PODIUM ART, SPECIALS, THEATER

The smallest details speak for themselves. For the second time during this edition of the Holland Festival, the legendary BBC series This Life comes along. Richard Cant, who plays a flawless lead role in Neil Bartlett's play Stella, has previously appeared in This Life, the series that set the standard for the modern docusoap in 1996. So now live, up close, in De Brakke Grond's Red Hall, the man who also played a solid role in Midsomer Murders.

Mark Haddon: 'Without death there is no fiction, nor any value in existence'

by A Quattro Mani
19 June 20162 August 2020
7 min read
ACTUAL, LITERARY, APPRECIATE & DONATE!

It came anything but naturally, writing his collection of short stories The Pier Collapses. Mark Haddon, made famous with The Miraculous Incident with the Dog in the Night, novels come a lot easier. 'I've been trying to write short stories for a long time, and I knew I should be able to do it, but I never succeeded. It was like a...

Transatlantic by the Dutch National Ballet at Holland Festival

The National Ballet's Transatlantic showcases works by four white men. Why?

by Ruben Brugman
18 April 201630 March 2022
4 min read
For members only, DANS, Holland Festival, SPECIALS

At Transatlantic The Dutch National Ballet dances works by four choreographers during the Holland Festival. They are male. They are white. They make classical ballet. Why this choice?

This was Something Raw 2016: less rebellious, more social

by Fransien van der Putt
21 February 201629 March 2022
14 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, DANS, MUSIC, THEATER

The raw in Something Raw can mean all sorts of things. The first thought might be something rough, as in the effect of sandpaper on skin or the havoc left by an elephant in the china shop. But rough is a derivative meaning. Raw first of all means unprocessed and fresh. There is a certain hope in the combination of rough and raw: artists who like...

connie palms

A Saturday night with Connie Palmen, Adriaan van Dis and Socrates. #wu16, #wn16

by Wijbrand Schaap
17 January 201630 March 2022
4 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, LITERARY, SPECIALS, Writers Unlimited

Next time, there will be 10 people queuing for a hotseat, 100 online viewers and dozens of live spectators in the foyer. At least I hope so, because only then will experimenting with new forms, apps and devices make sense, of course. At the second Winternachten night, Saturday 16 January at the Theater aan het Spui, we had slightly fewer viewers than...

Vijf redenen waarom de Nederlandse Reisopera Amahl and the Night Visitors ieder jaar moet uitvoeren

by Henri Drost
4 January 201630 March 2022
4 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, MUSIC, OPERA

Alleen Maastricht, Den Bosch en Enschede konden genieten van Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors. Veel te weinig voor een opera die slechts tweemaal eerder in ons land te zien was (in 1988 en 1965) maar alles in zich heeft om een jong publiek voor het genre te winnen én de decemberopera bij uitstek is. Zeker als de mini-opera zo…

Violinist Daniel Rowland: 'One spontaneous action can change the world'

by Thea Derks
21 December 201530 March 2022
9 min read
For members only, MUSIC, APPRECIATE & DONATE!

The healing power of music, some firmly believe in it - in 2013, it was even the premise of the City of London Festival. Believing that music can connect people and have a healing effect on conflictual societies, festival director Ian Ritchie asked the Brodsky Quartet to commission a composition around this theme. Thus was born the by...

Bowie expo in Groningen more compact than the British original, but well worth seeing

by Wijbrand Schaap
20 December 201529 March 2022
4 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, IMAGING, MUSIC

Cultural philosopher Ad Verbrugge has never had very much with David Bowie. He told that at the beginning of his lecture, Friday night 18 December, as a special attraction of the David Bowie Late Night at the Groninger Museum. That was the first disappointment for the assembled fans. More were to follow. Indeed, Ad Verbrugge had not quite prepared for his...

Franz Liszt: from virtuoso keyboard lion to ascetic innovator

by Thea Derks
1 December 20152 December 2015
4 min read
ACTUAL, MUSIC

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was revered in his own time as a true devil's advocate, whose virtuoso piano playing set many a woman's heart racing. But above all, he was an innovator, whose ambition was to "hurl a spear into the infinite space of the future". The Concertzender highlights life and work for two hours on Wednesday, 2 December

Welcome to the Jungle: een catastrofale clusterfuck bij de Kanaaltunnel

by Daniel Bertina
11 November 201530 March 2022
5 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, FILM

Maaike Engels (videokunstenaar en filmmaker) en Teun Voeten (oorlogsfotograaf en cultureel antropoloog) maakten Welcome to the Jungle. Een documentaire over de totale chaos in het geïmproviseerde migrantenkamp bij de kanaaltunnel in Calais, waar nu een slordige 6000 mensen in barre ellende wachten op hun kans om clandestien naar Engeland te reizen. Welcome to the Jungle is een pijnlijke en bij…

‘Meedoen aan een invasie is duizend keer lastiger dan er een boek over schrijven’

by A Quattro Mani
7 October 201530 March 2022
8 min read
For members only, LITERARY, APPRECIATE & DONATE!

Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games… Zouden jongeren nog geïnteresseerd zijn in geschiedenis? Schrijfster Anke Manschot gelooft van wel. Aan de vooravond van de Kinderboekenweek, die vandaag begint, verscheen haar spannende en aangrijpende historische boek De sprong op Normandië, de eerste jeugdroman ter wereld over D-Day. Vijf vragen aan de schrijfster. Historische jeugdroman Tijdens een vakantie in Normandië…

Greek special (1): Our Greek is still called Zorba

by George Vermij
15 July 201520 July 2015
6 min read
ACTUAL, FILM, Greece

Following the euro crisis, Culture Press focuses on Greece in a series of articles. In the first part, George Vermij looks at how film has influenced our image of the Mediterranean country. Is there not a more striking image of Greece than Antony Quinn as Zorba dancing the Sirtaki and finding resignation despite the harsh setbacks life offers? The...

affiche over productiviteit

Idee voor Griekenland? Engeland 15 miljard meer waard dankzij kunst

by Wijbrand Schaap
13 July 201530 March 2022
2 min read
ACTUAL, For members only

Het zou zomaar een oplossing kunnen zijn voor de Griekse problemen: investeren in cultuur. Voor Engeland is de zachtste aller sectoren in ieder geval een vruchtbare melkkoe gebleken. De culturele sector voegde daar vorig jaar 15 miljard aan waarde toe aan de economie, bijna 3 miljard meer dan twee jaar geleden. Ofwel: voor iedere pond die de overheid erin stak…

Dutch National Ballet - Empire Noir - photo Angela Sterling A0146

Cool Britannia: fine coalition of British choreography talent

by Ruben Brugman
18 June 201520 February 2017
4 min read
DANS, Holland Festival, SPECIALS

Got that. Do I get increasingly impressed during the National Ballet's evening Cool Britannia, turns out it's not that good at all. Because connoisseurs react lukewarmly afterwards. Am I that dumb, or are they that smart? There is actually very little British about Cool Britannia. Except that the choreographers are from there. An obvious...

passions humaines, guy cassiers, photo Kurt van der Elst

Hidden lusts of Belgians lead to great art on #HF15

by Wijbrand Schaap
16 June 201530 March 2022
4 min read
For members only, Holland Festival, SPECIALS, THEATER

2014 was the year of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, award-winning stage adaptation by Ivo van Hove. This year, that performance has been outstripped by 'Passions Humaines', written by Erwin Mortier, magisterially designed by Guy Cassiers. Again at the Holland Festival, confirming its place as a stage for the great debate on art. Two plays in which architecture, artistry and...

The seven performances you must see this Holland Festival

by one of our members
30 May 20151 June 2015
6 min read
ACTUAL, Holland Festival, SPECIALS

As Big as the Sky I am looking forward to Arnoud Noordegraaf's new multimedia project, As Big as the Sky, with sets by Ai Wei Wei. Noordegraaf is a master at blurring the boundaries between film and reality. His music is elegant and appealing and serves the story. As Big as the Sky, op...

How do you remove the negative sound around 'amateur art'?

by Henri Drost
28 May 201530 March 2022
4 min read
For members only, THEATER

A tricky question, but Festival Havenwerk director Erik-Jan Post has an idea and likes to bad some sacred cows. About arts education. About the concept of 'amateur'. About how big you should want to be as a festival. 'We are much less a festival in the classic sense. Havenwerk is more of a meeting place, with the participants at the centre. This year, therefore, the entrance fees are...

Kusuda photo Rob Hogeslag

Mysterious dance at Korzo and NDT's Spring Awakening

by Ruben Brugman
21 May 201521 May 2015
3 min read
DANS

It's dance, but not as we know it. That's the best way to describe Korzo and Nederlands Dans Theater's current edition of dance festival Spring Awakening. With two wonderful standouts, by choreographers Tom Weinberger and Kenzo Kusuda.

Tour de France with bow

by Thea Derks
19 May 201522 May 2015
5 min read
ACTUAL, MUSIC

For the sixth time in its history, the Tour de France will start in the Netherlands: on Saturday 4 July, the cyclists will start their three-week war of attrition under the Dom in Utrecht . A day earlier, the Britten Youth String Orchestra kicks off its own Tour de France, in home town Zwolle. In one week, the young musicians will give seven concerts in La...

Macbeth as childless killer

by Thea Derks
10 April 201529 March 2022
6 min read
For members only, OPERA

On Thursday 9 April, I saw the new production of Verdi's tenth opera Macbeth of The National Opera. It was unanimously slammed by the press after its premiere last Friday. German director Andrea Breth,

Ivo van Hove directs Bowie's The Man Who Fell To Earth II: Lazarus

by Wijbrand Schaap
2 April 201530 March 2022
2 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, THEATER

Indeed, you couldn't release this message on 1 April, because nobody would have believed it. But it is coming, then. Bowie, The Musical. But from the man himself. Sort of. Ivo van Hove, the boss of Toneelgroep Amsterdam who is now more famous in America and England than in the Netherlands, is going to direct Lazarus. That's a new...

Physician Index 2015

UK Culture Index postive, but no reason for optimism

by Wijbrand Schaap
17 March 201530 March 2022
3 min read
ACTUAL, For members only

Britain's Arts Index stands at 111. This puts the cultural AEX of a country that likes to call itself the world's cultural No 1, four points lower than last year, but still a point higher than in 2012, the year when the government also began cutting subsidies in Britain. The 'National Campaign...

Van Stedelijk naar softerotica: De merkwaardige carrière van Sam Taylor-Wood/Johnson

by George Vermij
20 February 201530 March 2022
3 min read
For members only, IMAGING, FILM, LITERARY

De kritische commotie die er is ontstaan rondom de verfilming van het boek Vijftig tinten grijs van E.L. James lijkt zich vooral te richten op de brave tamheid van het eindproduct. Iets dat in contrast staat met de vermeende gewaagdheid van het boek, waar een maagdelijke jonge vrouw zich seksueel laat inwijden door een rijke SM-yup. Filmcriticus Antony Lane somde…

Thanks to fixed book price law, no handcuffs gift at fifty shades of grey

by one of our members
5 February 201530 March 2022
4 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, LITERARY

A few months ago, the Council for Culture advised Minister Bussemaker to maintain the law on fixed book prices. And that while the functioning of the law has not been proven at all. For enterprising booksellers, this law is a block. This law earned erotic department store Christine le Duc a €15,000 fine. They came up with a playful...

strike root ndt photo rahi rezvani

Strike Root: do choreographers need editors?

by Ruben Brugman
3 February 20154 February 2015
3 min read
DANS

Recently, a choreographer in England lay under fire. As artistic director, he would not be able to judge his own work objectively. Promptly afterwards, a debate ensued under the title Do choreographers need editors? On seeing Strike Root of NDT, that question lingered: do choreographers need a dramaturge?

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