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Eric De Vroedt in State of the Theatre: 'We have to question the system we ourselves are part of.'

The hardest part of going back to work after the summer holidays are the holiday stories from colleagues. Or from yourself. That fantastic view, that unique campsite, that beautiful beach, that restaurant where you got the best food in the world for no money, that indigenous people you visited first with your tour bus. That moment of climate embarrassment that you had a few more... 

What I learned from Alida Dors and the Dutch Playwriting Prize

Of the 122 stage texts read by the jury of the Dutch Toneelschrijfprijs, just under 30 were written by female authors. In a field where the number of female workers is huge, this is striking. Because, the jury rightly stated, in written Dutch theatre, the male gaze is still dominant. While the theatre audience percentage-wise more women... 

Perfect body control and poetic activism at Theatre Festival Boulevard

After nearly 30 editions, I finally had my Boulevard baptism of fire. And what a breath of fresh air it was. Audiences from 2 to 80, a festival terrain you can just stroll across without a ticket. Even better: a festival area where you can also watch acrobatics and dance on an outdoor stage without a ticket! I saw people walking their dogs and checking to see if there were any... 

Official Jury selection 2022 has been announced!

From Thursday 1 to Sunday 11 September 2022, the Nederlands Theater Festival will show the finest productions of the past theatre season. The Netherlands Theatre Jury, headed by jury president Hadassah de Boer, selected the 12 most impressive theatre productions of the moment. Today, the jury announced its selection. Ten of the twelve productions from the selection can be seen during the upcoming edition of the festival.... 

Tobias Kokkelmans starts as director of the Dutch Theatre Festival: 'More exchange between different groups in audiences and creators.'

'As for many people, the theatre festival really does mean something. Like the Fringe, it is impossible to imagine without it. I've been able to make artistic friendships there, I've been able to have arguments there, I've met people who I thought were adversaries who turned out to be comrades-in-arms. Because there are not only performances, there is... 

Anne Lise Kjaer, futurologist, special guest at The Dutch Theatre Festival: 'If everyone stays in their bubble nothing will happen.'

'If you want to navigate in unfamiliar waters, it is good to take a map with you. My father was a fisherman, he hardly read, but that's what he told me. Now that I come to Amsterdam, that's also the first thing I do: make a map. What museums are there, is there a cool restaurant, is there new architecture? 

Theatre Festival Boulevard provided a stage for the stories we hear too little. #tfboulevard

According to Linde van Schuppen, philosopher and linguist, medics do not really listen to people with psychosis. At least, they do listen to someone suffering from obvious delusions, but that is to establish that the person is indeed off the track. 'But, how then?" is the question a psychiatrist or neurologist is not trained to answer, she argues. That is why she is doing her PhD. 

This year's Theatre Festival Boulevard feels greener than usual - and you'll notice it in the performances #tfboulevard

The permanent site of Boulevard's festival centre has largely turned into a construction site this year. This forced the organisers to move to Zuiderpark. Although this is a bit outside the city centre, it is much more spacious and green than the Parade square. It gives the festival a nice feeling of air, space and proximity to the... 

'You don't know where you stand.' Non-visitors of theatre make it clear where art goes wrong

The vast majority of Dutch adults never go to the theatre. Interestingly enough, the question among theatre people is never really about why people don't go to the theatre. After all, our arts sector is a supply market. At an art school, you are not trained to please the public, but to express your most individual emotion. And then preferably... 

For comfort in these dark times, you need John Buijsman. And Kees. #tfboulevard

Bosses start to look like their dogs. Or vice versa. Or owners like dogs who look like them. Or vice versa. Either way. If you want proof of this statement, hurry to Theatre Festival Boulevard where John Buijsman plays the gem 'Cosmic Cowboy', assisted by Kees, a labradoodle. Or something that should pass for that. John Buijsman is one of the... 

Benjamin Verdonck renews, for a moment, your view of the world. At Theatre Festival Boulevard #tfboulevard

One of the things that make Boulevard so special in the Dutch festival landscape is its generous focus on Belgian performances. Where Dutch theatres programme less and less work from across the southern borders, Boulevard continues to offer a stage to a large number of Belgian makers. Learning to live together This produces very varied work again this year. At the heart of the festival is... 

Nerd podcast #s2e1: On the necessary lightness of something heavy. A conversation about reviews and witches with Club Gewalt #tfboulevard

There is a huge amount happening in theatre, this summer, as many summer festivals have special corona editions where they show a lot of what was made in attic rooms last year during the forced closure of theatres. One such show was Die Hexe, by Club Gewalt, a fresh point theatre band/theatre collective that is/was showing at Theatre Festival Boulevard this summer. Nerd... 

Why laughter is best left to us more often: Joseph Toonga teaches theatre rage #tfboulevard

Think Pussy Riot, think Rammstein, maybe think Nina Hagen before she found Jesus and mix that up nice and fierce. Then you get something that is basically an insane festival act. Raging female punk in a beer- and smoke-soaked nightclub, ferocious moshpits full of people who really have something to dance out of their souls. It's all in there... 

Better listening, watching, feeling, smelling and tasting thanks to Theatre Festival Boulevard #tfboulevard

We don't look upward enough. Maybe we do a quick glance at the horizon to see if that shower is really going to ruin our terrace afternoon, but that's not looking for the sake of looking. And I was able to do that thanks to the people of BLOOS. In Bossche Zuiderpark, they have a... 

Unaccustomedness was to be expected at this rare summer festival #TFBoulevard

For a year and a half, there was hardly any playing, festival tents remained in mothballs and artists were busy doing living room concerts or attic sessions on Zoom. Now everything is allowed out again and the discharge is just barely there. Unaccustomedness characterises the fresh start of Theatre Festival Boulevard, which has moved to a park south of downtown Bossche for the next few years,... 

PODCAST: Joseph Toonga at Theatre Festival Boulevard: 'My daughters help me bring empathy to Hiphop' (English)

This podcast is recorded in English. For those who do not speak the language, or who do not have time to listen to the full podcast, here are some quotes. 'Originally I didn't have a title. Someone came up with 'Born to' and then I thought it would be nice to put 'manifesto' after it. After all, it is about appearing,... 

Boulevard experiences second Corona edition: 'It's organising a festival in the middle of a natural disaster. Nothing is business as usual'

Theatre festival Boulevard is going ahead this summer, just like last year. Everything is adapted to 'corona': safe at one-and-a-half metres, placarded, with registration for catering, but still just about a hundred performances. In this podcast, I speak to Nina Aalders and Tessa Smeulers, responsible for Boulevard's programming. They remained at the helm after the much-loved and... 

Ticket sales Theatre Festival Boulevard started today

Last week, Theatre Festival Boulevard announced the first performances as well as the theme 'Hack the horizon'. Today at noon, online ticket sales start for a large part of the programming. The programme is still under development and will be announced through online channels in the coming weeks. Fans can buy tickets for Jan Martens/GRIP, Nastaran Razawi Khorasani,... 

Theatre festival Boulevard changed the DNA of Den Bosch, even the Netherlands

Whether we want to speak only of 's-Hertogenbosch from now on. Apparently, a last vestige of decency has bravely survived in the provincial capital of Brabant. Nazmiye Oral, master of ceremonies at a party at Den Bosch's citadel on 9 June, forgot right the first time. City marketers and old nobility fight hand in hand for a respected name to trump the vernacular.... 

First titles Theatre Festival Boulevard 2021 announced; Theme Theatre Festival Boulevard 2021: Hack the horizon

Theatre Festival Boulevard 's-Hertogenbosch will take place from Thursday 5 to Sunday 22 August 2021. The 37th festival edition features over 120 different performances, concerts, performances and installations in theatres, at unique locations and in the Zuiderpark. We also move into the night with Fomo Fatale, club nights with steaming sounds. The Zuiderpark serves as a new, spacious festival heart, including the... 

Jeffrey Meulman from Theatre Festival to Verkadefabriek: 'We need to develop an alternative circuit again'

When Jeffrey Meulman (52) took office as director of the Theatre Festival in 2005, it needed to become more audience-friendly. Instead of a presentation of 'the most important theatre', the board that appointed him wanted to make a celebration of the most beautiful theatre. Meulman went to work, successfully, but the most important thing he did was to establish a 'fringe': an alternative... 

Viktorien van Hulst is leaving Theatre Festival Boulevard.

After more than six years as director, Viktorien van Hulst is leaving Stichting Theaterfestival Boulevard 's-Hertogenbosch and Stichting Bosse Nova. She will start on 1 July as director-director at the Fonds Podiumkunsten, where she will succeed Henriëtte Post. The Performing Arts Fund supports all forms of professional performing arts on behalf of the central government and has an annual budget of 62 million euros available for this purpose. Peggy Olislaegers... 

Theatre festival Boulevard spreads in time and space; Festival this year from 5 to 22 August with new festival heart in Zuiderpark.

Theatre festival Boulevard 's-Hertogenbosch is preparing for its 37th edition. An edition in which the organisation is still reckoning with ongoing measures around the corona virus. To better ensure 1.5 metres distance between visitors, Boulevard is making a new festival centre this year. In the Zuiderpark in 's-Hertogenbosch, we will realise a new meeting place with a spacious layout. In addition... 

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