STROOM

Vlag is an umbrella term for all the social constructs and systems we take for granted. For invariance, as if it cannot or should not change. The systems are restricted by arbitrary country and city boundaries. In a theatrical, musical and visual performance, Yousef Gnaoui deconstructs our ideas and merges them into a new perspective. Final directing: Marcus Azzini.

In Don't Wanna Touch, YoungGangsters and DOX dive deep into the fear of touch and embrace the discomfort. Why can a simple handshake be awkward? Where does the shame come from with some touches? And when do you draw a line? Director Annechien de Vocht and choreographer Simon Bus, together with five energetic performers, create an exciting mix of hip-hop and “action theater”. With (un)ease, humor and vulnerability, we set boundaries and collectively break through the walls surrounding touch and intimacy. Are you ready to be touched?

I've been running into myself too often lately. This morning, I left home on time, but once outdoors, I turned out to be partially still in bed. When I came back in the evening, my left-behind-self had blockaded the door. Through the window, I saw him running through the house. Everything had been turned upside down. The emails from my computer were crammed into the refrigerator, my goldfish were swimming around the houseplants, and my dirty laundry was hanging to dry outside. I saw him quickly slip into a painting on the wall. Now, I'm hiding under the bedcovers, but I know he's watching me…

In a combination of heartfelt performances, lively African dance styles, humor and impressive visuals, the Soweto Skeleton Movers from South Africa tell their personal life stories. Despite many setbacks and false temptations, these dancers are 'unbreakable'. You will be swept into a joyful and stunning mix of song, street scenes, compelling visuals and their 'skeleton pantsula', a mix of traditional South African street dance (pantsula) and 'bone breaking'. Welcome to Soweto! Unbreakable is a collaboration between Rotterdam choreographer Lloyd Marengo, London theater director Jonzi D, and the five explosively energetic dancers of Soweto Skeleton Movers.

Club Gewalt celebrates its ten year anniversary. Ten years full of love, art, rock ‘n’ roll and attending protests. Time to celebrate! A subdued birthday get-together morphs into a fiery arena where alternative forms of conflict are faced and fought out. A performance that acts as a killjoy by disturbing the peace - because peace is for political pussies and harmony is reserved for tone deaf fascists. Party of the decade: FOMO guaranteed.

In this dialogue-free children's performance, you see how unsuspecting people suddenly find themselves in the spotlight. 

Koning Gilgamesj is a contemporary retelling of the oldest written epic in the world. A story about friendship and the inconsolable sadness you feel when you lose someone you love dearly. This story, told through cool hip-hop beats, is about friendship and loss. The audience gets to influence the events on stage. The spectators use an interactive puzzle box to determine how the musical story will unfold. Beats, puzzles, rap and an ancient universal hero story are the ingredients for the ultimate interactive experience in this theatrical game.

High is about being high on life! The drive to feel and experience everything. Achieving ecstasy by being in the here and now. For that, you have to explore boundaries and take risks. Let's get everything out of life and celebrate it. You never know how long it will last. Pain and loss are part of it for everyone. You might be afraid of it. Because without downs, there are no ups. A dance performance by house choreographer Anne Suurendonk about extreme zest for life. About living consciously and being truly present.

In a society where old-fashioned craftsmanship seems to be disappearing, this contemporary circus performance responds to the human desire to keep on creating: the process from idea to actual construction, the relationship between man and his tools, and the tragedy of working on a project. Three obsessed characters take the audience on a unique 'do-it-yourself' experience in which they discover and transform their own workspace and themselves. Sawdust Symphony is an intense dialogue between frustration, euphoria and the smell of petrol.

Saar lives in a city that is different from all other cities. A city divided by a wide river. People on Saar’s side of the river are very unlucky. Bags full of bad luck are brought to their doorsteps every day. Where does all this bad luck come from? Why are Saar and her father less lucky than the people living on the other side of the river? Saar crosses the river with determination to find an answer to her questions. What she finds on the other side may be more shocking than all the bad luck put together...

In this performance, Wunderbaum tackles one of the most pressing questions of this century: How much of our time do we want to spend online? As parents and educators, we hear stories of kids taking on different identities in 20 different Whatsapp groups, secretly owning a second phone, and preferring to celebrate New Year's with their friends online in #World of Warcraft#. Or is that all just exaggeration? And what right do we actually have to speak if we regularly find ourselves scrolling and staring at a screen when our child is talking to us?

Based on Bulgakov's masterpiece De Meester en Margarita, KONVOOI investigates how man survives in a world in which truth seems to have lost its value. It is a search for something to hold on to in a time when people claim the right to their own reality. And facts seem to be just an opinion. A modern adaptation of a classic from the history of literature, interspersed with musical numbers and harmonious vocals.

Samy doesn't leave his room anymore, doesn't go to school anymore, and ignores his friends. He has retreated into an online community where he has made new friends: Neo17 and his supporters. According to his sister Hanna, these new friends are conspiracy-theorists, but to Samy, they are truth-seekers. Thus, brother and sister find themselves at odds. In Rabbit Hole, the boundaries between online and offline blur, and the audience members, through use of their mobile phones, become part of the chat forums that Samy immerses himself in. Will you too follow him into the rabbit hole? Or will you stay clear?

What moves a group of people who fall for the aura, the vision and the promises of a Great Leader? And is that covenant doomed to bring out the worst in man, or is it our only salvation? Versus promises to be a musically overwhelming and intoxicating journey through our greatest desires and fears about how we relate to one another. Two actors and eight cellists do everything they can to once and for all fight out the great primal human conflict, me versus another.

Are you humble, the kind who doesn't like to impose on anyone? Or were you born to take the spotlight? An ever-present chatterbox who never minces words? Circus Treurdier is back with BAAAAAA, a musical and bitter-comic performance about a humble person in an extremely vocal world. BAAAAAA was selected for the Official Jury Selection 2022 by the Nederlandse Toneeljury, Jan-Paul Buijs was nominated for the Louis d'Or, and closing song Goddank was nominated for the Annie M.G. Schmidt Prize 2022.