2018

AstaroTheatro December 2018

Saturday 15 December, 20:30
Revenir

81 mins/2018
a film by David Fedele and Kumut Imesh
Special Event: Screening and Q&A
Both David and Kumut are present during the screening and are available for Q&A


A controversial film experiment, a courageous journey and a unique collaboration between filmmaker and refugee; which is not without consequences.
For years, the stories of West African migrants and refugees have been told through the lenses of foreign journalists. Now there is a story from the inside.

Part road-trip, part memoir, part journalistic investigation, REVENIR (2018, 81mins) follows Kumut Imesh, a refugee from the Ivory Coast now living in France, as he returns to the African continent and attempts to retrace the same journey that he himself took when forced to flee civil war in his country … But this time with a camera in his hand.
Traveling alone, Kumut will be documenting his own journey; both as the main protagonist in front of the camera, as well as the person behind it, revealing the human struggle for freedom and dignity on one of the most dangerous migratory routes in the world.
Entrance by Donation
(note: all donations will be used to reimburse the travel expenses of Kumut and David)


AstaroTheatro November 2018

Saturday 24 November, 20:30
Songs of Love and Rage
by Almudena Rubio and Davide Cristiani


Almudena Rubio (Madrid) & Davide Cristiani (Bologna)
Almudena Rubio, an Amsterdam based singer, comes from Madrid but it’s when she arrived to this city that she start singing. In her concerts, accompanied by italian guitarist Davide Cristiani, poetry and popular music are melted together with songs of resistance.
Entrance by Donation 


Friday 16 November, 20:30
Killing Cartisano

KILLING CARTISANO is Roberta Cartisano, Italian multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and ses- sion-musician, and, marking a departure from Roberta’s previous recordings under her own name, Killing Cartisano is also Roberta’s new incarnation.
Influenced by psychedelic folk-rock, orchestral pop, cinematic funk and trip hop, her last album L’ultimo Cuore – The Last Heart, received rave reviews in her native Italy, where she was called ‘a pioneer of visiona- ry sound’. Her original song-writing is highly personal and vivid, encapsulating the term ‘emotional rock’.
On October 2018 KC has released her new single. Called ‘Sky Stolen’ the single follows hot on the heels of ‘The Drunk Man’ and ‘Let Me Go’ tracks, and is a preview to her forthcoming new album, Killing Cartisano Vol.1 to be released on 9 November.
On May 2018, leading up to the forthcoming album release, some tracks have been unleashed into the wild world: ‘The Drunk Man’ video was premiered on Folk Radio UK, ‘ Sky Stolen’ video was premiered on
Clash, ’Let Me Go’ was premiered on Backseat Mafia and its video appeared on Americana UK, while the track was broadcast on BBC Radio London.
KC produces and arranges her soundscapes at her own Broken Toys Studio. In support of her last album she embarked on a long tour, taking in more than 100 shows. As a songwriter session-musician (bass, piano, syn- th) and producer she has shared the stage with musicians such as Hugo Race (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds), Marta Collica (John Parish Band), Enrico Gabrielli (P.J. Harvey) and more.
‘It’s the ‘Frisco energy of an old, short-on-melatonin, rock-girl from Southern Europe’ says Cartisano.
A hook-laden hypnotic West Coast psychedelic vibe that just sucks you in’ – FOLK RADIO UK
‘Vivid, taut, highly emotive songwriting’ – CLASH MUSIC UK
‘It’s the ‘Frisco energy of an old, short-on-melatonin, rock-girl from Southern Europe’ says Cartisano.
www.killingcartisano.com


Friday 9 November, 20:30
Daydreams By Night

with Ramon Martensen


Remember those nights before going to sleep? When one of your parents or family members came to fuel your dreams with a beautiful fairy tale? Ramon Martensen brings back those times.
By creating an intimate setting where you can rest and calm down after a stressful day, he invites you to his inner world, where anything is possible and magic is all around. He lets the objects you bring inspire him to create stories on the spot, that only exist in that moment in time. Sometimes sweet, sometimes dark and at other moments funny or full of emotion, but always with a touch of magic. Day dream along and recapture some of your childhood wonder and inspiration.


AstaroTheatro October 2018

Saturday 13 October, 20:30
Friday 19 October, 20:30
On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco
by Anton Chekhov

1902, The Harmful Effects of Tobacco.
This is the final of the six different versions of the play from 1886 to 1902 which illustrates the transformation in Chekhov’s approach to the revelation of character on stage. Older version was designed to amuse the audience with solely external comic effects. Now, the emphasis has entirely changed and replaced by a subtle psychological analysis of the inner man.
Who is this man? Who is Ivan Ivanovich Nyukhin?
A dramatic monologue which depends on inner rather than outer action of the actor. 2018, Chekhov raises the mirror in front of modern people “have a look at yourselves and see how bad and dull your lives are…Why won’t you do something to change it?”. AstaroTheatro presents the monologue of Chekhov trying to bridge the mystic world of a man and his real down to earth life.
Without being aware we are all preparing for something “big” to come, what might be that? Will it lead us to catharsis?
With Roberto Bacchilega
Staged by Vasiliki Koutrouli
Pictures by Cenk Dövyap



AstaroTheatro presents a monologue by Howard Zinn adapted and performed by Roberto Bacchilega

Karl Marx has had enough of seeing his revolution taken over by opportunists organizing each time a new priesthood and a new hierarchy, with excommunications and indexes, with inquisitions and firing squads.

He is disgusted by media declaring him dead again and again. Karl Marx is back to remind us that his ideas are more alive than ever. He revisits memories of his courageous life and revolutionary theories. We learn about his family, his struggles and the boils on his arse.

Sunday 30 September, 20:00
ACU/The Barricade, Voorstraat 71 Utrecht


Saturday Mothers
Mothers of Victims

Mothers of Resistance
Screaming in silent protest their accusation to authoritarian totalitarian fascist regimes.
Witnessing with their presence that resistance to tyrannical state-sponsored oppression is possible and it’s here to stay
Asking questions that matter. What have you done to our beloved ones? Why have you tortured, murdered and made disappear the voices of dissent, the existence of the other.

From Saturday Mothers in Turkey to Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina to all of us in the world. For memory and on-going resistance

Activists, Artist, Humans of No Borders. Be together Saturday 29 October at NieuwLand Amsterdam

Saturday Mothers (Turkey) & Mothers of the Plaza De Mayo (Argentina)
Poetry… Music…Dance… Video… Theatrical Presentation…Performance…Politics

This is an event with many languages, organized by a group called ‘laatse Zaterdag’, composed of poets, writers, and artists based in Amsterdam. By organizing cultural events, we look into the state of the world, with ethical and aesthetical witnesshood. We use the language of art and culture to engage with the politics of the world. We hope to transform and collectivize our concerns. We are interested in collectivity created through these events.

This first event is about ‘disappearance murders’, specifically about Saturday Mothers/People in Turkey, but also other similar histories all over the world, like Mothers of the Plaza De Mayo in Argentina.
Saturday Mothers/People are families of disappeared and murdered people in the 90s in Turkey, who have been demonstrating every Saturday in a busy square in Istanbul, demanding an answer for disappearance of their lost ones. The demonstration has its 705th week this Saturday.
Doors open at 19:00.


Inter.Nos Festival
AstaroTheatro & Microteatro & Warmoesstraat District
Program Day-By-Day
All Events: Entrance by Donation


AstaroTheatro Summer

Metabasis * Metalaxis * Ypervasis _ Circle 1
(Transition * Mutation * Transcendence)

 


Performance Art workshop researching the connection between:
Time, self, material and artistic actions.

Dear artists,

I would like to invite you to my workshop/practice Metabasis * Metalaxis * Ypervasis _ Circle 1 _(20 hours) _which would take place in Amsterdam @ AstaroTheatro in August.

This is not a teaching techniques/systems of theatre/ performance art workshop. It is more a collective practice which intend to inspire you devising new approaches of your personal work. It will be a combination of exercises regarding the element of time, practising materials and actions in the “now” without preparation and reflection upon that.

More specific:

Practice on specific exercises how during an action we make full use of our time – Actions and materials – Do a Self-reflection process ( observing ourselves during the process) – Sharing thoughts with the group how might this process have changed you– Repetition & decay – Practice long duration performances during the festival in September.

Time frame:
1. Saturday: 25 August @ 12:00 – 17:00
(15 m coffee break & 20 m lunch break)

2. Sunday: 26 August @ 12:00 – 17:00
(15 m coffee break & 20 m lunch break)

3. Saturday: 1 September @ 12:00 – 17:00
(15 m coffee break & 20 m lunch break)

4. Sunday: 2 September @ 12:00 – 17:00
(15 m coffee break & 20 m lunch break)=>
the group will spend some time on discussing about the possibility of creating live performances (outdoors/indoors) during the Intern.Nos Festival Amsterdam.

Further info:

* Commitment to both weekends is necessary for the process.
* Max artists: 5
* Cost of total workshop: 100 euro / person (payment in advance)
* Coffee/tea, notebook/pen and light lunch are included in the price.
* Participation to individual or collective performances during the Intern.Nos Festival Amsterdam in September (not obligatory).
* Kindly request to CONFIRM your PARTICIPATION by EMAIL (vas_koutrouli@hotmail.com) by 15th of August.

Please drop me an email for any further information you might need at: vas_koutrouli@hotmail.com. I will be more than happy to explain more.

Feel free to invite people who might be interested in to practice on it.

This event will be hosted @ AstaroTheatro offered by the artistic director/curator and performer Roberto Bacchilega.

Thank you all in advance
Warm regards,
Vasiliki Koutrouli and Roberto Bacchilega


AstaroTheatro June

Saturday 30 June, 20:30
Marx is Back (a Play on History)
Karl Marx

200th anniversary
And He is Back at AstaroTheatro!

MARX IS BACK (a play on history)
“Why have I returned? to clear my name!”
AstaroTheatro presents a monologue by Howard Zinn adapted and performed by Roberto Bacchilega

Karl Marx has had enough of seeing his revolution taken over by opportunists organizing each time a new priesthood and a new hierarchy, with excommunications and indexes, with inquisitions and firing squads. He is disgusted by media declaring him dead again and again. Karl Marx is back to remind us that his ideas are more alive than ever. He revisits memories of his courageous life and revolutionary theories. We learn about his family, his struggles and the boils on his arse.


Saturday 23 June, 20:30
Ulrike’s Convicted Songs



‘Ulrike’s Convicted Songs’ is on stage for the second time for the purpose of raising the same questions to a different audience.

Do we learn from our mistakes or does the history basically repeat itself? What is the boundary of expressing the desire to freedom and to a more equal life for each and every citizen? How far we can go in discussing the place of women in the society? What is the accurate definition of ‘terrorism’ and to whom the universal right of free trial applies?

We open Pandora’s Box, combining our brainstorming with some folk songs of which the prisoners of Turkey were singing during their jail time. In the course of ongoing military coups of 60’s, 70’s and 80’s; some of the university students were condemned to death, many activists were sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. Those turbulent political periods even today create their own art forms. In our journey, the convicted melodies sail on a monologue from a Dario Fo play which drags us to the fierce words and jail time of controversial German journalist Ulrike Meinhof.
For reservations please e-mail to imra.dincer@gmail.com
Entrance by Donation 


Please contact us for dates, times and other details
info@ondaitaliana.org
astarotheatro@gmail.com
Or check events on our Facebook-page


Sunday 10 June, 20:30
ACU/The Barricade Utrecht
Voorstraat 71 Utrecht
The Volcanoes

A Philosophical Performance

“The Volcanoes” are current Odysseus’s who are wandering around, displaced and destroyed. They are souls who are “carrying” the confusion, the illusions and the chaos of humanity… they are down there, feeling the cutoff of the true soul.

“The Volcanoes” is a philosophical performance which attempts to connect the “broken” parts of cosmos. Illusions, blindness and chaos are the “broken parts” that keep the humanity in darkness. They would like to bring back the light, to restore…to reconnect…who is ready to take this “journey”?

“I am hearing the earth…there is always an interaction between the earth and heaven.
It is as if heaven is reaching down…”
Van Gogh

Stage composition: Alli Mana ǀ Poetry Performance and Theatre Group
Preparation and Stage Direction: Vasiliki Koutrouli
Text composition: Alli Mana ǀ Poetry Performance and Theatre Group
Performers: Roberto Bacchilega, Arif Murat Gür, Vasiliki Koutrouli, Silvia Terribili
Music composition | impro | on stage: Renato Ferreira
Photo credits: Tatjana Todorovic

“The Volcanoes” performance is inspired and initiated by a theatre play by Arif Murat Gür

An AstaroTheatro and Alli Mana ǀ Poetry Performance and Theatre production


Thursday 7 June, 20:30
Slack Bird-Fabian Maddison-The James Bar Bowen Duo at AstaroTheatro

The man dreams and the dream takes form.
The dream is a nothingness dressed in expectations and will.
Then it becomes.
Through machinery and science. Blind and obedient.
The man takes his own rib – playing God – and with his rib makes his image’s desire.
But that was the Professor’s mistake. He anchored his dream in a false fantasy.
And from love he built poison.
His undying creation sealing his mortality.

Helena: Eleftheria Vakaki
Professor Matthews: Roberto Bacchilega
Christophe: Alexander Singh
Audio, Animation and Video Support: Manuel Buonamico and Meritxell Batistti
Pictures: Tatjana Todorovic
A Ritual Movement and AstaroTheatro Production


AstaroTheatro May

Friday 18, Saturday 19, Sunday 20 May
Three days of Uncontrolled Arts
AstaroTheatro Festival 2018
10 years AstaroTheatro
Theatre&Activism > Omnia Sunt Communia


AstaroTheatro, the smallest theatre in Amsterdam, has been an Artistic Ithaca for hundreds of artists over the last 10 years of its existence
An Agora of Resistance
To celebrate the 10th birthday of AstaroTheatro, the festival is an open platform for artists to produce new works or propose already existing ones
AstaroTheatro Festival Program

AstaroTheatro
Sint Jansstraat 37
Amsterdam
Entrance by Donation
(Festival flyer kindly by Arif Murat Gür. Festival Program flyer kindly by Tenedle)


AstaroTheatro April 2018

Friday 13 and Saturday 14 April, 20:30
Saturday 28 April, 20:30 (additional performance)
Monsieur Teste

‘Dark Reflections of an Illuminated Mind’


by Paul Valéry
Translated by Jackson Mathews
Adapted by Zbigniew Maciak

The Cast
Edmond Teste – Joost van Oosterhout
Emilia, his wife – Henrietta Bryant
Paul, his friend – Roberto Bacchilega
Priest Mosson – Alexander Singh
The Angel – Julia Landau

Puppets – Joaquim Pedro Ferreira
Sound track – Joost van Oosterhout
Stage-frame construction – Björn Gudmundson
Video & poster – Martina Gudmundson
Photos – Tatjana Todorovic

Directed by Zbigniew Maciak in collaboration with the actors and the Puppet Master
An AstaroTheatro Production

“Monsieur Teste” was introduced to the world in 1896.
In 1925 Valéry wrote:
“Coming back to Monsieur Teste… a character of this kind could not survive in reality for more than a few quarters of an hour.”
Thanks to the magic of theatre he will stay with us a while longer.


Thursday 19 April, from 19:00
The Volcanoes
A Philosophical Performance
at NieuwLand 

Pieter Nieuwlandstraat 93-95, Amsterdam
www.nieuwland.cc

“I am hearing the earth…there is always an interaction between the earth and heaven.
It is as if heaven is reaching down…”
Van Gogh

“The Volcanoes” are current Odysseus’s who are wandering around, displaced and destroyed. They are souls who are “carrying” the confusion, the illusions and the chaos of humanity… they are down there, feeling the cutoff of the true soul.

“The Volcanoes” is a philosophical performance which attempts to connect the “broken” parts of cosmos. Illusions, blindness and chaos are the “broken parts” that keep the humanity in darkness. They would like to bring back the light, to restore…to reconnect…who is ready to take this “journey”?

Stage composition: Alli Mana ǀ Poetry Performance and Theatre Group
Preparation and Stage Direction: Vasiliki Koutrouli
Text composition: Alli Mana ǀ Poetry Performance and Theatre Group
Performers: Roberto Bacchilega, Arif Murat Gür, Vasiliki Koutrouli, Silvia Terribili
Music composition | impro | on stage: Renato Ferreira
Photo credits: Tatjana Todorovic

“The Volcanoes” performance is inspired and initiated by a theatre play by Arif Murat Gür

An AstaroTheatro and Alli Mana ǀ Poetry Performance and Theatre production
Entrance by Donation 


Sunday 22 April, 17:00 (matinee)
Jordi Pelach at AstaroTheatro

JORDI PÈLACH REVIEW
Jordi Pèlach is originally from the countryside, but his songs have a strong taste of his adoptive Barcelona. And more specifically, that vital and colorful Barcelona that springs to the most unsuspected corners, the strongholds that have not yet yielded to low cost tourism. Fine melodies that resonate with force despite its fragility. Silk melancholy and arrangements that refer to living rooms with little light, and those untimely hours in which the rigidity of the day to day gives way to reflection and, why not, the dreams. He has a voice. That voice, of serious tone and unique and untransferable finishes, that explains stories and short distances in each verse, a strange and simple poetry with strong dark/light contrasts.

THE CONCEPT OF THE CONCERT
In this concert, he will present his new songs, more skeletal than ever, sometimes asymmetrical or surprisingly short and schematic. Touching and strangely beautiful, mixing some of his finest old-fashioned tunes with articulated thoughts and some kind of a punk attitude. His concerts are an act of flow, in line with the existing energy in the room. It can be a drama or a comedy, like life itself. Here and now, are we human or not? Are we alive?
Entrance by Donation


AstaroTheatro March 2018

Saturday 17 March, 20:30


Agora of Resistance
OpenPodium at AstaroTheatro
10 Years AstaroTheatro. Theatre&Activism > Omnia Sunt Communia
Saturday 17 March, 20:30

 A Space of Counter-Narratives
A truly independent place where we can meet outside the logics of neoliberal market and corporate mediocrity
An Agora of Resistance to stay away from oppression alienation and exploitation
(Doors open from 8 pm. First act at 8.30 pm)

Open podium with different artists from different backgrounds.
Sense, non-sense and sensation
Theatre, Music, Performances, Arts, Lounge
Entrance by Donation


Saturday 24 March, 20:30
The Volcanoes

“The Volcanoes” are current Odysseus’s who are wandering around, displaced and destroyed. They are souls who are “carrying” the confusion, the illusions and the chaos of humanity… they are down there, feeling the cutoff of the true soul.

“The Volcanoes” is a philosophical performance which attempts to connect the “broken” parts of cosmos. Illusions, blindness and chaos are the “broken parts” that keep the humanity in darkness. They would like to bring back the light, to restore…to reconnect…who is ready to take this “journey”?

“I am hearing the earth…there is always an interaction between the earth and heaven.
It is as if heaven is reaching down…”
Van Gogh

Stage composition: Alli Mana ǀ Poetry Performance and Theatre Group
Preparation and Stage Direction: Vasiliki Koutrouli
Text composition: Alli Mana ǀ Poetry Performance and Theatre Group
Performers: Roberto Bacchilega, Arif Murat Gür, Vasiliki Koutrouli, Silvia Terribili
Music composition | impro | on stage: Renato Ferreira
Photo credits: Tatjana Todorovic

“The Volcanoes” performance is inspired and initiated by a theatre play by Arif Murat Gür

An AstaroTheatro and Alli Mana ǀ Poetry Performance and Theatre production
Entrance by Donation


AstaroTheatro February 2018

Friday 2 and Saturday 3 February, 20:30
Friday 9 and Saturday 10 February, 20:30 (additional performances)
Treading the Abyss
or
Six Twenty Seven PM


There’s a fog in your head when you tread through the abyss. There’s fog all around you.

And all the broken umbrellas in the street flapping in the wind are like dead birds.
The men who count suicides are liable to include themselves.
Loneliness is the colour of ash and feathers, and you know you have to go.
It’s almost 6.27 pm and the dark streets are filled with yellow lights and despair.
And the girl steps onto the highest roof in the city and looks down.
There’s nothing wrong with her. Nothing that a kiss couldn’t fix.

A theatre play written and directed by Joaquim Pedro Ferreira

The Stagehand: Eleftheria Vakaki
Two Heads: Roberto Bacchilega & Francis Cox
Girl: Athina Kazouri
Man: Alexander Singh
She: Athina Kazouri
He: Alexander Singh
Patient: Johan Statius Muller
Lover: Sona Prakash
Father: Johan Statius Muller
Daughter: Athina Kazouri
Youngster: Alexander Singh
Creature: Sona Prakash

Images: Belén Apaz
An AstaroTheatro and Ritual Movement Production
Entrance by Donation


Friday 16th, Saturday 17th  February, 20:30
Sunday 18th February, 17:00 (matinee)
The Volcanoes

“I am hearing the earth…there is always an interaction between the earth and heaven.
It is as if heaven is reaching down…”
Van Gogh

 

“The Volcanoes” are current Odysseus’s who are wandering around, displaced and destroyed. They are souls who are “carrying” the confusion, the illusions and the chaos of humanity… they are down there, feeling the cutoff of the true soul.

“The Volcanoes” is a philosophical performance which attempts to connect the “broken” parts of cosmos. Illusions, blindness and chaos are the “broken parts” that keep the humanity in darkness. They would like to bring back the light, to restore…to reconnect…who is ready to take this “journey”?

Stage composition: Alli Mana ǀ Poetry Performance and Theatre Group
Preparation and Stage Direction: Vasiliki Koutrouli
Text’s composition: Alli Mana ǀ Poetry Performance and Theatre Group
Performers: Roberto Bacchilega, Arif Murat Gür, Vasiliki Koutrouli, Silvia Terribili
Music composition | impro | on stage: Renato Ferreira
Photo credits: Tatjana Todorovic

“The Volcanoes” performance is inspired and initiated by a theatre play by Arif Murat Gür

AstaroTheatro |www.astarotheatro.com
Sint Jansstraat 37
Amsterdam

An AstaroTheatro and Alli Mana ǀ Poetry Performance and Theatre production
Entrance by Donation 


AstaroTheatro January 2018

Saturday 20 January, 20:30
Urgent Rebellion
OpenPodium at AstaroTheatro
Theatre&Activism > Omnia Sunt Communia

(Doors open from 8 pm. First act at 8.30 pm)

Open podium with different artists from different backgrounds.
Sense, non-sense and sensation
Theatre, Music, Performances, Arts, Lounge



Friday 26 January, 20:30

Tenedle
Odd to Love
A Tribute to Emily Dickinson