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High Road to Culture in Flanders and the Netherlands
What do Martinus Nijhoff, acclaimed modernist and Dutch poet of the twentieth century, and Joseph Brodsky, Russian poet and Nobel Prize Winner, who eventually wrote also in English, have in common? Brodsky knew the poetry of Nijhoff in tra...
The debate about the significance and commitment of theatre was probably cranked up again as a consequence of dramatic events in the Netherlands, such as the murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh. According to the author many theatre-ma...
Four guys performing on stage with acrobatics, slapstick, music and grand theatrical effects. A goat singing Ave Maria, one of the actors reanimating a goldfish – even royals attend to see it.
This Dutch theatre company prepares young people for art, beauty and consolation.
Since the 1980s improvisational theatre has seen an impressive uptake, in the Netherlands and Belgium. The competitive nature ensures improv’s lasting popularity.
It should come as no surprise that the famous story of Pinocchio the marionette by the Italian author Carlo Collodi has become the standard that is constantly used to demonstrate the nature of puppet theatre. A piece of wood that becomes hu...
What do Alize Zandwijk, Luk Perceval, Ivo van Hove, Guy Cassiers and Johan Simons have in common? They are wanted abroad as directors or even artistic leaders of a theatre company. Undoubtedly they are good, but perhaps such adjectives as ‘...
This Dutch theatre company has given us “location” theatre, eccentric, sharp and never far removed from commentary on subcultures. Now the great actors of this group are exploring new ways and seeking for a new public.
If such a thing as a Nobel Prize for theatre direction existed, then anno 2017 Ivo van Hove (1958) would stand an excellent chance of winning. Not only has Van Hove gained world renown with his Toneelgroep Amsterdam, he has also achieved g...
Hans Teeuwen is a theatre wizard for whom the right term has yet to be coined. The term ‘cabaret artist’ does not do him justice, as the concept is still attached to a mixture of diverse stage genres such as narrative and poetic art or son...
Over the last two or three years theatre makers in the Low Countries have become increasingly involved in the cultural diversity debate. In their different ways, they take seriously their mission of manifesting ‘the abstract and brief chro...
No other Middle Dutch text has meant so much to so many as 'Reynard the Fox'. Medievalist Frits van Oostrom examines why this story has remained so popular for centuries.
