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Holland Festival

This is my father: flaming stab at anti-Semitism to be seen on #tf2010

In This is my father, young theatre-maker Ilay den Boer (1986) literally puts his own father in the spotlight. He does so by giving his father the lead role in a performance that is all about him. This results in intimate and voyeuristic theatre.
Before the performance, you will be given a booklet describing the life of Gert den Boer. Based on dates and events, visitors can ask questions to the men on stage. Father and son answer, open doors and tell anecdotes. But what if it turns out that they handle some events very differently? Where Jewish Ilay sees signs of anti-Semitism, his own reformed father recognises an innocent incident. How differently do father and son view issues like discrimination or hatred?

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Branden: legendary top theatre to be seen again in Amsterdam #tf2010

The destructive power of war and hatred
Writer Wajdi Mouawad (b. 1968) fled his native Lebanon at the age of nine. At the time, a brutal civil war had been raging there for years. Together with his family, he ended up in Canada via France.
There, he develops into an internationally renowned playwright. His work is now performed all over the world. The Ro Theatre introduced Mouawad to the Netherlands for the first time this theatre season.
Director Alize Zand...

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A Don Giovanni without Don before it, without scruples and without illusions, but with a few naked women. #hf10

 Door Wijbrand Schaap Eens in de zoveel tijd staat er een theaterregisseur op die de leegte om zich heen aan de kaak wil stellen. Dat het om de leegte in hem (of haar) zelf gaat, daar komt deze jonge regisseur meestal een jaar of twintig later achter, als die eenmaal wat minder leeg geworden is. Zo gaan die dingen. We… 

Read More "A Don Giovanni without Don before it, without scruples and without illusions, but with a few naked women. #hf10

Shukshin's Stories: a 'gypsy boy-with-trane' painting by a grand master. #hf10

The Russian soul. So there is something about that. And you get something from that when you see a Chekhov play (if done well), or read one of his short stories. Or when you read the works of Tolstoi, Dostoevsky or any other inhabitant of that vast nothingness east of Poland. Or seeing the paintings, which a few... 

Read More "Shukshin's Stories: a 'gypsy boy-with-trane' painting by a grand master. #hf10

Teleac course on muezzin singing delivers little deeper insight #hf10

 Above, fun audio from the Holland Festival. We went to watch and listen at this performance. Afterwards, we talked to actor Sabri Saad el Hamus and reviewer Martin Schouten. They had their own views on this play, which was announced as follows: Cairo is the city with thirty thousand minarets. Here you can hear five times a day above the... 

Read More "Teleac course on muezzin singing delivers little deeper insight #hf10

Oerol arrives. Competition for Holland Festival on scarce arts pages in Festivalland #hf10

 The Marathon Effect is well known: put spectators together in a theatre for half a day or more, preferably on uncomfortable seats, and hand them over to a couple of actors with a play. Success seems assured, and the ancient Greeks already knew that. So that there would be no discord around the monster project I Demoni, the Dostoevsky adaptation of Peter... 

Read More "Oerol arrives. Competition for Holland Festival on scarce arts pages in Festivalland #hf10

Demoni by Peter Stein: Masterpiece leads to masterpiece #hf10

 After a 12-hour theatre marathon, what can be said? That it was good? Good. It can. That it was rare? Also true. That it takes a director in his 70s to stage a Russian novel with such calmness, and that it takes such phenomenal actors to keep the audience hooked for 11 hours to the not-very... 

Read More "Demoni by Peter Stein: Masterpiece leads to masterpiece #hf10

'Calliope writes very essential notes'. Premiere Greek Love Songs by Calliope Tsoupaki #hf10

 Image report: Ellen Segeren A few years ago, Greek-Dutch composer Calliope Tsoupaki wrote songs with piano accompaniment for Greek singer Nena Venetsanou. Some of these Tsoupaki arranged for the four brass players of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Brass Soloists and the four singers of the Egidius Quartet, whose tenor part is filled in for this occasion by Marcel Beekman. For him, Tsoupaki also wrote... 

Read More "'Calliope writes very essential notes'. Premiere Greek Love Songs by Calliope Tsoupaki #hf10

De Keersemaeker sinks through the bottom of what is still dance in '3Abschied'

 Text Maarten Baanders (photo Herman Sorgeloos) After sensory labour had already been reduced to a minimum in Keeping Still - Part I and The Song, dance philosopher Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker confronts the most extreme reduction possible in life in the final part of the trilogy, 3Abschied: death. Her choice of music strikes again Der... 

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Battle of the hashtags: Harmony Festival, Ca vs Holland Festival, Nl #hf10

 Fortunately, there is a considerable time difference between Santa Monica and Amsterdam, but for a while there was a threat of considerable confusion when the organisers of the three-day Harmony Festival thought they could reserve the hashtag #hf10 for themselves. However, since the first twitters, yesterday, things have been quiet in California, as they have discovered that Holland Rulez where trending topics are concerned.... 

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Jelineks Rechnitz impresses Holland Festival visitors #hf10

Image by Andrew B47 via Flickr Photo: Chris Vanderburght It was time for a real theatrical hit at the Holland festival, after the rather lukewarmly received British-American Shakespeares of Sam Mendes' Bridge Project. And clap it did with Rechnitz by Elfriede Jelinek dooor the best actors of the Münchener Kammerspiele. Karin Veraart of De Volkskrant was deeply impressed: ...Not... 

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Meanwhile at the Holland Festival: Press cheers over Dog's Heart and doubts Anne Therese de Keersemaeker #hf10

 Not all was negative around Sam Mendes' Bridge Project, which was received rather sparingly by us at The Dodo, and a few other media outlets. Apart from a few positive Twitter reactions, the performance of The Tempest also garnered a pretty nice review from Volkskrant reviewer Karin Veraart, who admired music, directorial discoveries and acting performances by Stephen Dillane in particular and the fresh couple... 

Read More "Meanwhile at the Holland Festival: Press cheers over Dog's Heart and doubts Anne Therese de Keersemaeker #hf10

Thanks to Elfriede Jelinek, since 9 June we know a little better what it is like to be Austrian. #hf10

 By Wijbrand Schaap (photo by Arno Declair) Since Wednesday 9 June 2010, the Netherlands has resembled Austria a bit more, although with us the mountains are in the southeast, instead of the west. And there's another difference: we are still allowed to see the stage work of Austrian Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek, while the stern writer's work in her... 

Read More "Thanks to Elfriede Jelinek, since 9 June we know a little better what it is like to be Austrian. #hf10

Amsterdam FM Clash of Reviewers on Holland Festival #hf10

 Loek Zonneveld is furious about The Bridge Project, but overjoyed with De Keersemaeker's The Song and Wijbrand Schaap still enjoys Amal Maher in the broadcast of Clash der Recensenten on Amsterdam FM, Tuesday 8 June, between 15:00 and 16:00. Also featuring a clear explanation of what The Dodo is, and what it is for... 

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What the papers say: the music is fine, as usual on #hf10

 Martijn Padding has done something special with Beethoven's 10th. He turned the piece that the deaf composer never really wrote in its entirety into an experience that, as Volkskrant reviewer Frits van der Waa put it, made you feel what it sounded like between Beethoven's ears. According to the NRC, it sounded Impressive: the sphere of creation stripped of all heroism, as if you were passing through two centuries of... 

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In veil spiral by Zaha Hadid, Bach sounds beautiful, but cellist Queyras lacks feeling #hf10 #gast review

 Sometimes we are not at a concert or performance ourselves, but there is a spectator who dedicates a beautiful or critical reflection on a performance in more than a few sentences. You may submit those pieces, and if they are deemed good enough, we will repost them on The Dodo. With our heartfelt thanks, of course. Mail your pieces to: dedodo@cultureelpersbureau.nl... 

Read More "In veil spiral by Zaha Hadid, Bach sounds beautiful, but cellist Queyras lacks feeling #hf10 #gast review

De Keersemaeker's 'Song' is philosophy for the senses, straight from the heart #hf10

 By Maarten Baanders (photo by Herman Sorgeloos) Where were we? In the previous performance, Keeping Still, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker gave us an empty space as the final image. Now we walk into the hall of the Muziektheater for part 2 of the triptych, The Song and once again an explicitly bare stage stretches before us. The hall light is still on... 

Read More "De Keersemaeker's 'Song' is philosophy for the senses, straight from the heart #hf10

High praise for Curlew River; less for De Keersemaeker and Mendes #hf10

 Curlew River Photo: Bertrand Stofleth For every independent journalist in the Netherlands, there are about 15 information officers. It is therefore obvious that these spokespeople largely determine the image in the media. Could that be why in the newspapers and television programmes surrounding the Holland Festival, the announcements are far more numerous than the critical reviews? A look at the... 

Read More "High praise for Curlew River; less for De Keersemaeker and Mendes #hf10

Despite Dillane's splendid role, soporific Tempest shows failure of Sam Mendes' Bridge Project #hf10

 By Wijbrand Schaap (photo by Joan Marcus) You can have Bach's St Matthew Passion performed by 15 canaries, an electric guitar, a drum kit, a ukulele and a accordion, and it will still be beautiful, because it is Bach. Similarly, you can have Shakespeare's up-and-coming British plays performed by a group of Americans, and it will... 

Read More "Despite Dillane's splendid role, soporific Tempest shows failure of Sam Mendes' Bridge Project #hf10

For at least €10,000 and lots of art love right to unsolicited advice to Holland Festival #hf10

 We at the press do it for free, but people with really big money can buy it: the right to unsolicited advice to the Holland Festival. Today, the festival announced the appointment of a Board of Governors. People with money who like to put it into top culture. A novelty for the Netherlands. We have the names: G.J. van den Bergh and... 

Read More "For at least €10,000 and lots of art love right to unsolicited advice to Holland Festival #hf10

Press review: webloggers and newspapers unanimously happy with Amal Maher

 Those who missed it, like our Beatrix, will increasingly realise that something important happened, Tuesday 1 June, at the opening of the Holland Festival. Egyptian beauty Amal Maher performed an hour and a half of classical Arabic music at Carré, making her first small step into the Western mainstream. We ourselves were from The... 

Read More "Press review: webloggers and newspapers unanimously happy with Amal Maher

We provide links at NRC culture blog #hf10

 Wilfred Takken muses today on the character Jacques in the Shakespeare comedy As You Like It. The actor Stephen Dillane turns it into a wonderful Bob Dylan in The Bridge Project, says NRC reviewer Takken: When Dylan was once asked if he considered himself the "voice of a generation", he replied, "I'm just a song and dance man. Everyone laughed, but... 

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As You Like It despite brilliant jokes and fantastic Bob Dylan impersonation still a long sit #hf10

 Door Wijbrand Schaap, Foto Joan Marcus Dat hebben wij dus niet. In Nederland. Zoveel goede acteurs van naam en faam om een complete Shakespearekomedie tot in de kleinste edelfiguratie met toppers te kunnen vullen. Ok, we komen een eind met onze Pierre Bokma’s, onze Gijs Scholten van Aschats, een Lineke Rijxman, Mariek Heebink en Ariane Schluter, en vlak Elsie de… 

Read More "As You Like It despite brilliant jokes and fantastic Bob Dylan impersonation still a long sit #hf10

De Keersemaeker purifies the ears with her dance, but how do you sustain such a pure experience? #hf10

 By Maarten Baanders (photo by Herman Sorgeloos) Calmly we stand at the door of the venue. A bit like the Holland Festival is a drag. No one suspects that in a few minutes, existence will be reduced to almost nothing. It starts with darkness. Silence. For minutes. Softly, footsteps sound. The ears are tuned to it in detail. There is singing. Mahler's... 

Read More "De Keersemaeker purifies the ears with her dance, but how do you sustain such a pure experience? #hf10

Now we know what Amal's fuss with that watch was about #hf10

 Wereldjournalisten.nl, a site with journalistic productions by and about the multicultural society was also present at the opening concert and did understand the many cries from the audience. At one point, for instance, there was an incident where Amal Maher apologetically pointed at her - otherwise extraordinarily chic - watch. For a moment, we thought it was about that, but it was about... 

Read More "Now we know what Amal's fuss with that watch was about #hf10

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