«Windows without courtains»

About dutch theatre. Opening Speech for the Netherlands Theatre Festival 2014
by Thomas Oberender

 

 

Excerpt

(…) This idea of the «Theatres of the Day» and the «Theatres of the Night» isn’t a clear-cut model, it isn’t a strict ideology, but rather serves to describe theatre worlds that co-exist, that blend and absorb each other’s accomplishments. And the fact that the Theatre of the Day has become part of today’s high culture and even substantially contributes to its dynamics, is due in large part to Dutch theatre culture. As a matter of course, in the Theatre of the Day, the actors became co-authors in the creation process of the productions. The work of these collectives, as Simon van den Berg so aptly described it, is informed by a do-it-yourself mentality and an open eye for all sorts of source-material.  After all, Dutch theatre is essentially one of production families and companies.