Grand Opening: COURAGE

About the show:

Festival directors Raphael Rodan and Sahand Sahebdivani will bring together some incredible artists, with whom they will create a variety show, in which different theatrical disciplines are present, but of course the storytelling is central. During this exciting opening night, the artists will not only question the theme of Courage, they will also set the tone for the entire festival to come.

Bios:

Raphael Rodan (1980) is an award-winning theatre maker and storyteller. He graduated in 2008 from the School of Speech and Drama in Harduf in his country of birth Israel. He continued his actor training at the Actors Temple in London. He worked in Israel as a theatre director for Arab and Jewish young actors, using theatre as a bridge for communication. Since his move to Europe he runs storytelling workshops and performs all over the continent.

Sahand Sahebdivani (1980) is the most known storyteller of The Netherlands. In 2004 he founded the Mezrab, which became one of the most important storytelling stages of the world. Sahand arrived in the Netherlands as a refugee of the Iran-Iraq war at the age of three. The experiences of him and his family have been the basis of the majority of his work.

Together, Raphael Rodan and Sahand Sahebdivani direct and co-create The Amsterdam Storytelling Festival. They also established the Mezrab Storytelling School, a school that is striving to link the ancient art of storytelling with today’s burning questions.

Credits:

Concept, stories and moderation: Sahand Sahebdivani & Raphael Rodan