Jonge Harten (Young Hearts Theatre Festival)

I intended to write about the Jonge Harten Theaterfestival (Young Hearts Theatre Festival) in Groningen after I'd seen some performances, but never came round to it... Ah well, better late than never.
Jonge Harten is a theatre festival that's held every year at the end of November in Groningen (up North in the Netherlands). The audience they aim for is students and young people, who want something more than your average trip to the theatre. So all the performances are given by young artists who want to present something new on stage and it ranges from theatre to dance to music. The more experimental performances are followed by discussions afterwards with the performers and directors, to make the performances accesible for everyone. I only saw three of the give-or-take twenty five performances on offer, but left all with a smile on my face.



I attended a dance performance and two theatre performances. The dance performance was Badke by international dance company Les Ballets C de la B. It was a modern adaptation of the traditional Palestinian folk dance dabke, and the dancers weren't professional dancers yet, but rather students, most of whom were cast after they'd attended workshops in Palestinia. The dancers performed with such joy, you could feel it in the audience. The majority of the performance was fun and pure joy to watch, but there also were some parts which reflected the state Palestinia is in. These parts were rather heavy, especially compared to the lightness of the rest of the show, but it was beautifully performed and the whole was really moving.

Badke by Ballets C de la B. Picture by Danny Willems.

The two theatre performances I saw were Het Zwarte Woud Forever (The Black Forest Forever) by Suzanne Grotenhuis and Garry Davis by Marjolijn van Heemstra. In both of these pieces the actor addressed the audience directly as they told their story. Het Zwarte Woud Forever was about the end of the world and it was described as an apocaliptic Christmas party. It really did feel that way. It was performed in a big, dark and cold church, filled with christmas trees, and the audience was offered Nordic sweaters and blankets to keep warm, which added immensly to the atmosphere. Suzanne Grotenhuis talked about the struggles she had realising this performance, what's wrong with the world in general and about what she would do, if this really were the end of the world. It was honest, funny and touching, and the finale of the church lighting up as the lights in the Christmas trees turned on and cardboard cut-outs of Al Gore and Kevin Spacey from Waterworld joined in in the festive cheer was surprising, hilarious and moving at the same time.
Marjolijn van Heemstra's performance was also moving and inspiring. The idea for her performance came about when a friend of her from Libanon was not allowed to come to the Netherlands, trapped in a system where she is less of a human being than Marjolijn. Not willing to accept this, Marjolijn went in search of a way of living in which everyone in the world is equal as a human being. In this search, she came across a man, Garry Davis, who ripped up his passport after the second World War, as he'd seen how nationalism can be the biggest threat to peace and created a world passport for himself, declaring himself to be the first official world citizen. During the performance, Marjolijn talks about Garry Davis, how she met him and how she tried to life according to his (and her) ideals and as a true world citizen. And how using her own world passport landed her into the interrogation office at Schiphol Airport. It's imrpessive how such important themes as human rights and what it means to be human can be conveyed in such a funny and moving way.
Whilst this was a completely different story, I left this performance the same way; feeling optimistic and smiling.

Garry Davis by Marjolijn van Heemstra. Picture by Leo van Velzen. Het Zwarte Woud Forever by Suzanne Grotenhuis. Picture by Alex Daems.

Though I personally only saw a small part of the offerings, I heard nothing but enthusiastic responses to these and all the other performances during the festival. I unfortunately didn't have time to hang out at the festival café, but from hear-say it was bustling and cosy, and there were some great musical performances. To me, Jonge Harten 2013 was a big success and I think, as a festival, it is definitely worth checking-out. The atmosphere felt right, the performances were spot-on and production-wise, it offered something new and exciting. Despite having very little budget, it attracted some top acts. I've been to festivals were they advertised new and exciting theatre, where I left the room feeling rather disappointed, but something about these performances was so spot-on, that I can't wait to see what Jonge Harten 2014 has to offer.