The Netherlands Gears Up for Theaterfestival Boulevard & Noorderzon Arts Festivals in August

The Netherlands will play host to two major performing arts festivals in August, offering a wide array of offerings.

First, Theaterfestival Boulevard, in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, which runs from 2 to 12 August, takes place in the local theatres in addition to unique locations and offers a platform for a number of new and well-established theatre makers. The festival will feature Dries Verhoeven's "Donkere Kamer," a production commissioned by Johan Simons, Münchner Kammerspiele, with six blind performers. Schweigman will be performing "Spiegel," an intimate production in which the audience sits at The Edge of a reflective surface. "Het spookhuis der geschiedenis" is also in the line-up, a Wagnerian-like ‘theatre opera’ from Wunderbaum about the horrors of modern history. Gerardjan Rijnders wrote the text inspired by "De Theatermaker" by Thomas Bernhard. "Veenfabriek", which displays the lives of three monks in an almost abandoned monastery, will also play the fest, along with Paul Koek as monk and sound artist, and Ilay den Boer with his production "Broer."

The Noorderzon Festival, which runs from 16 to 26 August in Groningen, offers the international avant-garde of music, dance, circus, drama, mime and puppet theatre in an accessible setting. Highlights of the festival include "Cold War" from PeerGroup & the LAPD. The Dutch PeerGroup is collaborating with the Los Angeles Poverty Department on the production.