Brandhaarden 2024: Experience theatre from Athens in Amsterdam
Are you looking for a profound cultural and social experience to liven up the cold winter months? Look no further than the Brandhaarden Festival in Amsterdam from the Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA). Their latest instalment focuses on the Onassis Stegi, an impactful centre of theatre, dance and music in Athens.
Onassis Stegi
The Onassis Stegi in Athens encourages the talent and energy of local and international artists to thrive and starts conversations that aim to shake and shape society. Onassis Stegi is a centre of global contemporary culture that, through a series of initiatives and works, promotes dialogue about democracy, social and environmental justice, racial and gender equality and LGBTQIA+ rights.
From Athens to Amsterdam
This latest festival, Brandhaarden 2024, brings this cultural output to Amsterdam, inviting us to look at “New Greeks”, contemporary makers from the very country where ancient culture is celebrated as the origin of our theatre.
The ITA presents no fewer than seven productions on contemporary Greek culture, through the eyes of Greece's most thought-provoking theatre-makers. You can expect to see new forms of theatre, as well as ones that refer back to the well-known figures of Ancient Greece.
Modern myths
The fringe programme of Brandhaarden 2024 is dedicated to “Modern Myths”. The audience is invited to reflect on the power of shared stories. The acts will look at how this can turn into widespread ideas that are not necessarily true and thus can further marginalise vulnerable communities.
Earthquake
Earthquake is a bone-shaking, seismic performance, bringing together trans femininities, non-binary people, plus-size bodies, immigrants and sex workers on stage so that they can sing the hate speech they’ve suffered just because they are who they are.
This 16+ performance, taking place from January 30 - 31, 2024, is given entirely in Greek. Check out the ITA website for more information and tickets.
Constantinopoliad
Visual artist Kathryn Hamilton, AKA Sister Sylvester, along with Egyptian musician Nada El Shazly, brings you a multi-prismatic and interactive performance like no other. In this journey across the borders of genders and diverse worlds, you will experience the blank pages of Constantinopoliad, a diary kept by Cavafy when he and part of his family had to flee Alexandria in a hurry for Constantinople.
This stunning English-language experience will take place from February 1 - 2, 2024. Check out the ITA website for more information and tickets.
Goodbye, Lindita
Goodbye, Lindita is a poetic farewell, a visual meditation on mourning. A family experiences grief in a muted, wordless manner, stupefied by their loss, until a series of uncanny events seems to suspend the boundaries between their world and that of the departed Lindita. Trivial house chores are followed by poetic images and rituals originating from Balkan traditions.
This completely visual performance from Mario Banushi has no dialogue - so language is not an issue! Take part in this artistic journey from February 3 - 4, 2024. Check out the ITA website for more information and tickets.
The House
Dimitris Karantzas presents a performance-parable about violence, addiction to images and the abolition of illusions. In other words, it's about a reality that, no matter how much you try to avoid it, will catch up with you sooner or later.
The House is an 18+ show given in Greek, with Dutch and English subtitles. The show runs from February 5 - 6, 2024. Check out the ITA website for more information and tickets.
Nekyia
Giannis Aggelakas, musician, poet and creator of the Greek rock scene, collaborates with established choreographer Christos Papadopoulos on Nekyia, a unique viewing and listening experience based on one of the most arresting rhapsodies of Homer’s epics, Book 11 of The Odyssey.
The performance is given in Greek, accompanied by Dutch and English subtitles, and runs from February 7 - 8, 2024. Check out the ITA website for more information and tickets.
ROMALAND
Carefree nomads? Great artists? Victims of social structures, or dangerous and delinquent? What, after all, are Roma? And what are they not? Anestis Azas and Prodromos Tsinikoris explore this in a production that walks the line between documentary and fiction about the life of Greek Roma.
This 16+ performance is given in Greek and Romani, with Dutch and English subtitles, and will run from February 9 - 10, 2024. Check out the ITA website for more information and tickets.
Rebetiko concert
Explore the history of Rebetiko, a genre that originated in the cities and ports of Greece, reflecting the lives of refugees and evolving from pre-war tales of delinquency to post-war themes of love and social phenomena. This concert showcases characteristic songs spanning each Rebetiko decade, highlighting different rhythms of a genre deeply ingrained in Greek culture.
This Greek musical theatre phenomenon will premiere on January 10, 2024, with handouts in Dutch. Check out the ITA website for more information and tickets.
Register for tickets
Did one (or more) of these performances from Brandhaarden 2024 speak to you? Order your tickets today from the ITA, the most celebrated theatre in the Netherlands, and witness an artistic phenomenon like no other! If you want to stay up to date with ITA’s programme, sign up for their newsletter.