Coerced & Freely Given
-
25 okt20:30 - 21:50TR25 Schouwburg, RotterdamKrijn Boon Studio
-
26 okt20:30 - 21:50TR25 Schouwburg, RotterdamKrijn Boon Studio
English
With Coerced & Freely Given, Merel Severs returns to a newly built arena, where dance and martial arts once again come together. This time, she explores the role of the body in times of political despair.
Following her critically acclaimed performance Try Not to Know What You Know, Merel delves deeper into the complex relationship between pleasure, violence, exhaustion, and resilience. Together with performers Matilde Tommasini (formerly Milou van Duijnhoven) and Princess Isatu Hassan Bangura, she presents another intense performance, filled with her signature energy. The trio challenges existing capitalist and patriarchal systems, exploring a world of intensive physical effort and soft connection. As raw blows transform into tender embraces, the performers turn the stage into a suggestive landscape of possibilities.
"We need to learn how to practice love such that care – for ourselves and others – is understood as political resistance and cultivating resilience."
— Adrienne Maree Brown
In Coerced & Freely Given, the body is put under pressure, activating both discipline and pleasure as the three performers strive for radical softness.
Biography of Merel Severs
Theater maker, performer, and martial artist Merel Severs (1991) creates engaged, confrontational, and physical performances. She draws inspiration from intersectional feminism, body politics, and martial arts. With her distinctive signature, she questions the violent structures of the world around her, using the transformative power of the body. In 2020, she made her debut with the solo Let me tell you something you already know, which won the Best of Fringe award and earned her a nomination for the BNG Bank Theater Prize. Her second performance Try Not to Know What You Know was once again nominated for this prize.
In addition to her work as a creator, she is the co-founder of Dance Space Destiny, an open space in Amsterdam where community building, artistic exchange, and experimentation are central.
Extra
De Coproducers
De Coproducers zijn twaalf Nederlandse theaters die gezamenlijk coproducent zijn om zo een eigenzinnige en opkomende generatie aan theatermakers naar de volgende stap in hun carrière te helpen.
De Coproducers zijn Theater Bellevue (Amsterdam), Frascati (Amsterdam), Schuur (Haarlem), Corrosia (Almere), Theater Kikker & Podium Hoge Woerd (Utrecht), De Lieve Vrouw (Amersfoort) De Verkadefabriek (Den Bosch), Theater Ins Blau (Leiden), De Nieuwe Vorst (Tilburg) en de vlakke vloer zalen van het Het Nationale Theater (Den Haag), Theater Rotterdam (Rotterdam) en de Zwolse Theaters (Zwolle)
The Kitchen
Tijdens The Kitchen serveert Theater Rotterdam de makers van de toekomst. In de intieme setting van de Krijn Boon Studio krijg je een kijkje in de keuken van de maker. Je bent getuige van nieuwe theaterrecepten, verrassende smaken en een spannende mix van stijlen. Come see what’s cookin’!
Team
concept Merel Severs creatie Merel Severs, Milou van Duijnhoven, Princess Isatu Hassan Bangura performance Merel Severs, Princess Isatu Hassan Bangura en Matilde Tommasini eindregie Jules Petru Fricker regie assistentie Sam Zanardo decor en kostuums Publik Universal FrXnd decor en kostuums assistent Áróra Bergsdóttir dramaturgie Eylül Fidan Akıncı lichtontwerp Rob Daanen en Guus Broeren geluidsontwerp Mauro Casarini grafische vormgeving Studio Marleen Vos scènefotografie Mo Alzoabi videografie Joao MB Costa productie Theater a/d Rijn, aangesloten bij De Nieuwe Oost in coproductie met De Coproducers en Stichting Severs met dank aan Dance Space Destiny en Mondriaan Fonds mede mogelijk gemaakt door Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap, Provincie Gelderland, Provincie Overijssel, Gemeente Arnhem, Fonds Podiumkunsten, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, BNG Cultuurfonds, NORMA fonds en Fonds21