Atalanta

Artist: Ben Haggarty

Duration: 85 min

Thursday 7 November

Start: 20:30

End: 21:55

Price: € 15

Language: EN
Location: Big Theatre

About the show:

Greek myths unleashed in a Performance Storytelling by Ben Haggarty.

A girl raised by a bear, centaurs intent on rape, maniacal kings, troublesome boars, and bitterly feuding deities contrive the bloodiest race to ever stain the soil of Arcady.

Audaciously reshuffling epic Greek Mythology, Ben Haggarty brings to the stage a fierce tale of a remarkable virgin hunter and devotee of Artemis who sure as hell doesn’t want to have anything to do with men.

Here the veneers of classical civilisation are stripped away, and the truly awesome implications of the tales are made, sometimes unbearably, clear. Spend a moonlit night in the company of wild women, cocksure warriors and gods unleashed.

‘ a tour-de-force of storytelling‘ – Remote Goat

‘a fresh dose of magic that you need in your life’ Everything Theatre

‘bloody brilliant‘ – Time Out”

Suitable for adults (16+)
This performance may contain strong language, descriptions of or references to sex, death, attempted rape, death in childbirth, execution and mutilation contextualised within a paradigm of mythic narrative, archetype and metaphor.

Bios:

Having trained in mime, and in theatre direction at East 15, and apprenticed as an image-maker with Welfare State, Ben is one of the UK’s most popular contemporary storytellers and a pioneer of the European storytelling renaissance. He is renowned for his passionate and physical performances. He tours widely, has been a guest artist in over one hundred International Storytelling Festivals in 32 countries and was for 10 years the official storyteller with Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. Ben is a much sought after teacher and director of storytellers, and is the founder and artistic director of the legendary Crick Crack Club. He is Honorary Professor of Storytelling at the Arts University of Berlin (UDK). His graphic novel series ‘MeZolith’ is published by Archaia. In 2014, he won the Fringe First for Spoken Word award for ‘Mr Sandmann, Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares’.

Credits:

Adaptation, Direction and Performance by Ben Haggarty

14 September 20247 October 2024

The Chord

Artists: Meysam Forooz, Raffi Feghali, Bence Huszar

Duration: 60 min

Thursday, 7 november

Start: 20:10

End: 21:10

Price: € 15

Language: EN

Location: Studio

About the show:

When Meysam is a small boy, his sister dies in a house fire. At least, that’s what he’s told. But he has other memories stashed away which no one will explain: He remembers the anguished confession of a young guy in a prison cell. Talks of an international arrest and the hanging of four men in the village square.
Now that he’s an adult, and most of his family is gone, will those who remain tell the truth which has been hidden from him?
The Chord is an Iranian family tragedy and murder mystery. It tells the story of women’s resilience and the societal bonds which test it to the limit.

Bios:

Actor and storyteller Meysam Forooz is a graduate of the Mezrab Storytelling School. Many of his stories are based on his life in Iran, the country he fled in 2016. In 2021 he made his first solo with co-creator Sahand Sahebdivani, Four Weddings and an Iranian Funeral, about the lives of gay men in Iran. The daring piece played on Dutch stages as well as during Europride in Belgrade.

Sahand Sahebdivani is one of the founders of the Mezrab Storytelling School as well as an accomplished performer. He won the Amsterdam Fringe Gold award in 2017 and since 2018 he is the co-artistic director of the Amsterdam Storytelling Festival. Sahand also has an Iranian refugee background, which makes him the perfect partner for the work of Meysam.

Raffi Feghali is a theatermaker, peacebuilder, and trainer based between Amsterdam and Beirut.
He‘s directed more than 35 performances since 2009; most recently Standing on the Miraculous Field (2023, Netherlands) and Shou Zaki @ Beirut Holidays Festival (2024, Lebanon).
He has performed in more than 60 shows worldwide, under many international directors. He’s currently touring with Anatomy of a Home, his second autobiographical monodrama directed by Bryan Reynolds.
Raffi is one of the people who brought improv to Lebanon in 2009 and he has recently embarked on a journey taking him back to his storytelling roots. Halim Al-Hakawati, the solo improv show directed by Stephen Kearin he’s touring with now, resulted from this blend.

Bence Huszar is a cellist of Hungarian origin. Towards the end of his institutional studies Bence felt the need to dive further into his personal musical expression. He took classes with Ernst Reijseger who helped him develop his own musical language and style of playing. Bence has also been exploring electronics in combination with an electric cello. This opened the door to possibilities of new sonic colours. His musical versatility led him into a variety of groups and ensembles performing world music, experimental classical music and cross-over genres such as Lunapark, Trio Escapada, Ikarai and Arifa.

Credits:

Makers: Meysam Forooz / Sahand Sahebdivani
Performers: Meysam Forooz / Raffi Feghali
Music: Bence Huszar
Technician: Jugal Bhinde

14 September 20247 October 2024

Narrative Animations

Artists: Rod Ben Zeev and Renske Ebbers

Thursday 7 November

Start: 19:00

End: 19:50

Price: € 15

Language: EN

Location: Studio

About the shows:

What happens when you cross to radically different disciplines? Come to find out! The Amsterdam Storytelling Festival and the Kaboom Animation Festival requested two storytellers to see what kind of story they can tell using animation. Rod Ben Zeev and Renske Ebbers have gladly accepted the challenge and have dived into finding a new way to tell in front of the big screen!

Skip It / Rod Ben Zeev

Get ready to rediscover the magic in everyday moments with Rod’s one-of-a-kind performance! This isn’t just any show—it’s an adventure where you call the shots. Want to soak up every delightful detail, or skip straight to the good stuff? The choice is yours! And here’s the best part: Rod has a knack for bringing out the kid in everyone. By the end, you’ll feel like you’re seeing the world with the same wide-eyed wonder you had as a child. It’s playful, it’s interactive, and it’s guaranteed to leave you smiling.

Lionheart / Renske Ebbers

A girl on a beach in South Africa, retiring her Wonder Woman cape. A sister playing Mario Kart in a children’s hospital.

She was known as the brave one. The oldest one of her generation, the first girl in the family that could do anything she wanted. But what remains after the dragon is slain, and she is called home empty handed? When the only person that truly sees her as a hero, is the one she just can´t save? When bravery makes way for shame, will she dare talk about it?

A girl wants to punch a mountain. Or become a lion. Or learn how to fly. Anything to keep from sitting still, waiting.

In a personal story about the delusions of voluntourism and the magical bond between two siblings, Renske travels to the fantasy lands of childhood books, animations and video games. Because beyond a world of unfairness and misfortune, lies a place for us, if you are brave enough to play-pretend. Meet me there dearest, and I will race you on those white sanded shores.

Bios:

Rod Ben Zeev is a storyteller at heart, with a passion for weaving narratives that inspire change and spark creativity. Rod also produces “My True Story” at Mezrab, a space where authentic stories come to life, captivating audiences and connecting people through shared experiences.

Renske Ebbers was born 1991 in the “corner at the back” of the Netherlands. After moving in and out of several countries she now resides in Vienna, although the night train takes her home on a regular basis.

Renske is a creative producer and program curator for community-based performing arts, especially passionate about social issues and international collaboration. She recently worked with De Brakke Grond, Wunderbaum, Boogaerdt/VanderSchoot, Theater der Welt, ImpulsTanz Festival, Mixed-Abled-Dance Coproductions, and the Mezrab.

Since 2020 she has developed as a writer and storyteller, bringing personal stories with a pinch of nostalgia, a twist of self-mockery, and a musical note. This is her first performance for the Amsterdam Storytelling Festival.

Credits:

A collaboration with Kaboom Animation Festival

Concept and animation selection: Stijn Ebbers

Animations by: *

Stories and Performance Lionheart: Renske Ebbers

Stories and Performance Skip It: Rod Ben Zeev

Rod Ben Zeev / Skip it

Renkse Ebbers / Lionheart

14 September 20246 October 2024

ROOTS!

3Troubadours / Torgrim Mellum Stene, Markus Luukkonen, Tom Van Outryve

Duration: 75 min

Thursday 7 November

Start: 18:30

End: 19:45

Price: €15

Language: EN
Location: Studio

About the show:

We stand on the shoulders of giants. Each and every one of our ancestors has left a trace in us. To understand who we are and where we are going, we need to understand where we’ve come from. To dive into the lake, to climb the tree, to enter the cave. To look for the ROOTS of it all.

3Troubadours have dug far back into their individual family histories, the legends of their cultures and even their own DNA to find tales and memories of who we are and what we carry.

With their signature humour, energetic performance and deep sense of wonder, the three performers will take you to places and times you’ve never been before.

ROOTS was developed throughout 2018 in a string of European residencies supported by Federation for European Storytelling / The Creative Europe Programme of the EU and The Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme. The performance premiered the 24th of October that year at the Warsaw International Storytelling Festival.

ROOTS is based on and inspired by material from Personal stories and ancestral histories of the performers, Kalevala, The Poetic Edda, The myth of the Fisher King and own writings.

“The show was an electrifying and memorable dive into personal history, family history, human history and the magical and powerful mythology which underpins our humanity. I enjoyed the way that three different voices, styles and languages were woven together to make a seamless whole.”

– Vanessa Woolf (Storyteller, UK)

“A personal, warm, fun and thought-provoking storytelling performance with three very different voices, which stand on their own two feet and flow together in an elegant way. The story of how three people’s stories, from three different countries, are intertwined into a brotherhood, is a performance everyone should see. They show vulnerability and strength at the same time.”

– Tine Winther (Director Land of Legends, SE)

Bios:

Markus Luukkonen (FIN) studied performing arts in Helsinki and tells stories in clubs, theatres, galleries, festivals… He performs predominantly for adults. In his work he likes to mix personal stories, folktales and myths. He is founder member of the Finnish Storytelling Association, Samova Storytelling. He is the structure, the direction and the far-sightedness of 3Troubadours

Torgrim Mellum Stene (NOR), educated in The Art of Storytelling at the University College of Oslo, makes performances primarily for adults, but also for children, mixing the personal, the historical and the mythical in his tales. He is the details, the depth and the wonder of 3Troubadours.

Thanks to his experience as educator and youth worker in combination with his passion for stories, Tom Van Outryve (BE) brings his stories for children and adults to life in his own interactive and dynamic way. He is the spark, the force and the connection of 3Troubadours.

14 September 20249 October 2024

TALK ‘From fear to courage in stories’

Speakers: tbd.

Duration: 60 min.

Thursday, 7 november

Language: EN
Location: Studio

About the talk:

Do stories have a recipe to allow us to live? Moving from a state of fear to a state of courage? With a specialist in the field of storytelling we will discuss these deep subjects, diving into the world canon of stories.

14 September 20243 October 2024

WORKSHOP ‘Introduction to Storytelling’

Teacher: Fer Rodil

Duration: 180 min

Thursday 7 November

Start: 13:30

End: 16:30

Price: € 50

Language: EN
Location: Studio

About the workshop:

On our first full festival day, you can join an introductory Storytelling workshop. No prior knowledge is required! In three exciting hours, comedian and storyteller Fer Rodil will teach you the basic skills of storytelling. He encourages you to be curious, explore stories further and show your brave side.

Bio:

Fer, an Argentinian director and storyteller with over 15 years of experience in the Buenos Aires theater scene. He’s also a screenwriter, writing series for HBO, Amazon Prime, and Disney+, and producing web series. In 2020, he moved to the Netherlands. He now teaches storytelling at Mezrab Storytelling School, performs and teaches comedy, and directed shows featured in several Dutch festivals.