Dutch Focus

This year’s focus of the 48th Maribor Theatre Festival is dedicated to contemporary Dutch dramatic literature and theatre. On this occasion, we have published the book Contemporary Dutch Drama featuring four plays selected by Lucia van Heteren, professor of Theatre Studies at the Department of Arts, Culture and Media of the University of Groningen, and Niek vom Bruch, head of the Theatre Department of the foundation Fonds Podiumkunsten from Amsterdam, in collaboration with Alja Predan, artistic director of the Maribor Theatre Festival.

On Monday, 21 October 2013, on the First Stage of the First Grammar School in Maribor, we will present the book and the introductory lecture by Lucie van Heteren on contemporary Dutch theatre and drama as well as the first staged reading of the play Freetown (by Rob de Graaf) performed by students of Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana under the mentorship of director Yulie Roschina. Staged readings continue with another two dedicated to the plays Long-term Consequences (Magne van den Berg) and The Summer of Evergreens (Rik van den Bos) followed by conversations with the playwrights. The final staged reading of the play The Fourth Reich (Peer Wittenbols), a conversation with the author, and the concluding lecture on the Dutch theatre system by Niek vom Bruch will take place on Wednesday, 23 October 2013.

The Dutch focus will also host the renowned Dutch theatre Toneelgroep Amsterdam with their production of Human Voice directed by Ivo van Hove, and the young performer Naomi Velissariou with the production of Mr Jones by Frascati Producties, Amsterdam.