Programme Main Competition

Before we get started

Performances start at 7.30 pm with an interval of approximately 20 minutes between plays. After the last play, we kindly ask you to remain seated until after the adjudication.
Latecomers will be admitted at the next interval.
Photography, filming or recording of any kind is not permitted during performances.
After the last play and adjudication, do join us for drinks at the Zuiderpershuis bar.
Don’t forget about the Fringe programme. All of the fringe performances will take place in the Hangar.
We’re also organising some workshops, guided walks of the city and a guided tour of the Zuiderpershuis itself. Make sure to register at the hospitality desk if you’re interested.
On Sunday night we invite you to Twilight Tales: Masquerade Night at the bar.

FRI 17/5 - InPlayers

ANXIETY AND BROKEN LOVE

by Linda Sjöström - directed by Rae Gerritsen

A man enters a restaurant to wait for his blind date.
There is more going on in his head than outside appearances may suggest. We delve into the inner workings of his mind and ride the roller coaster of his emotions.
Can he finally put aside his own insecurities and find the true love he is looking for, or will he just be left with Anxiety and Broken Love?

FRI 17/5 - AATG

THE PRISONER OF CHILLON

by Lord Byron - adapted & directed by Henri Colens
Byron wrote his poem, The Prisoner of Chillon, after he was shown marks on Chillon Castle’s dungeon floor. Like any good writer, he imagined almost all of the rest: that the traces were left behind by a family of imprisoned martyrs. The original poem is a soliloquy by the eldest (and surviving) brother, Francois Bonnivard, but in our adaptation it is delivered by all three. It concludes with Byron’s rousing denunciation of tyranny, the Sonnet of Chillon.

FRI 17/5 - The Bonn Players

POOR YORICK

by Phil Mansell, directed by Mark Berardi
Yorick the jester is not dead - he’s on the road dying a death as he pioneers a new kind of comedy called stand-up. When this fails, he is persuaded by his tavern-wench girlfriend Bess to return to Elsinore and get his old job back - but when he arrives he finds there have been many changes, and he becomes embroiled in Hamlet’s plans for revenge.

SAT 18/5 - The Hamburg Players

LOVE/SICK

by John Cariani, directed by Jessican Albiston & Valerie Doyle
Set in a suburban alternate reality on a Friday evening, these four short plays explore the pain and joy that comes with being in love.
About the daily madness of sharing your life with another person, and the unusual ordinariness of putting your heart on the line.
A play about romantics.
A very funny tragedy.

SAT 18/5 - GEDS

FRIENDS HELP YOU MOVE

by John Ward - directed by John Ward
Friends help you move ... Real friends help you move a body.
Friends help you move is a black comedy about two inept Irish criminals who have dreams of pulling off a heist far beyond their capabilities. They plan to enlist the help of a local crime boss with a fearsome reputation for violence, however things do not go according to plan, and they quickly find themselves out of their depth. Friends help you move is a dark comedy thriller in one Act.

SAT 18/5 - University Players Hamburg

EURYDICE (excerpt)

by Sarah Ruhl - directed by Henny Fleischmann
The wedding day of the too-young and too-in-love Eurydice and Orpheus ends unexpectedly: unable to resist the promise of a letter written by her deceased father, Eurydice finds herself at a stranger’s apartment.
On her escape, she trips, falls and dies. In the underworld, where all words are lost but stones can speak, Eurydice is
left with no memories of her husband and reunites with her father.
When Orpheus’s beautiful music makes even the stones weep, the couple are given the chance to return to the world of the living – and Eurydice is left with a choice to make. A tale of love, loss, and letters.
EURYDICE reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice not through Orpheus’s infamous pilgrimage to retrieve his bride but through the eyes of its heroine. The production departs from the myth aplenty to create an associative visual poem full of light-hearted humor and emotional intensity. With contemporary characters, surprising plot twists, and inappropriately seductive side characters, this play is a fresh look at a timeless love story.

SUN 19/5 - Entity Theatre

TRIFLES

by Susan Glaspell- directed by Estefania Vidal
A man has been found strangled to death in his own bed. While the investigators struggle to find the cause, dismissing the kitchen as a women’s space where nothing important can be hidden, it is up to two local housewives to reveal the real tragedy at hand.

‘Trifles’ exposes themes that still resonate with us today, such as the isolation of women in male-dominated societies and authorities being dismissive of what they consider ‘women’s problems’.

SUN 19/5 - FEST

OLD SAYBROOK

by Woody Allen - directed by Jeff Book
‘Old Saybrook’ is a short farcical play from Woody Allen’s collection of plays ‘Writer’s Block’. Each play is an absurdist take on marital infidelity.

In ‘Old Saybrook’, an orthodontist, Norman, and his wife Sheila, are hosting Jenny, Sheila’s sister, and her husband David, a plastic surgeon, at their grand suburban house in Connecticut. When a couple who once owned the house stops by, they spark an oldfashioned sex farce that is full of verve and cunning. A secret diary is found, or purposefully introduced which reveals a myriad of previously undisclosed sexual relationships and entanglements between the couples. Just as all begins to unravel, Max shows up to bring a dangerous twist.

The production of Old Saybrook was made possible with the cooperation of Concord Theatricals GmbH, on behalf of and under contract with Samuel French, Inc.

SUN 19/5 - ACTS

STELLA CAPELLA - LOST DISCO QUEEN

by Stuart Marlow - directed by Stuart Marlow
Singer Stellah Capella’s disco Empire: where images are reality and vice-versa.
Appearing on screen in her global chain of clubs, Stellah’s challenging songs are electrifying young minds world wide. But how ‘real’ is Stellah? And where the hell is she? Top financial wizard Derran is frantically seeking Stellah as his dream partner. But he simply can’t get past Ricky, her protective father & business manager.
With the help of astute and intriguing office cleaner Meena, Derran embarks upon a journey to explore the dangers and blessings of romantic infatuation versus ‘true’ love: but soon finds himself confronted with not only wonders and horrors of Artificial Intelligence but unexplored areas of his own pysche.

MON 20/5 - ECC

THE SKEWED FLAWED CURIOUS ENDING

by Andrew Biss - directed by Heli Pärna
A play within a play within a play and even further. Through a line-up of short comedies, all bordering on the absurd, come and explore a world of contrasting characters, imperfect relationships, and some hilarious misunderstandings. You might very likely recognise yourself in some of these characters, even if you will not want to admit it. And we won’t ask you to.
You may not find all the answers to life’s questions, but we’ll have a good laugh watching our characters try to figure them out!

MON 20/5 - ITG

SALAD DAY

by Deirdre Kinahan - directed by Lyn Wainwright
A short conversation between an elderly man and woman is set in a residential convalescent home. The pair share memories of their respective but separate lives in previous years. Surreptitiously at first, the woman devises a plan for them to escape together but is foiled by circumstances from carrying it out.
This poignant play was the forerunner of a successful full length drama ‘Halcyon Days’ by the author Deidre Kinahan.

MON 20/5 - Tagora

THE POORLY-WRITTEN PLAY FESTIVAL

by Carolyn Gage - directed by David Crowe
The committee of an ambitious – if impecunious – theatre company is meeting to select the scripts that will be performed at the first edition of their upcoming Poorly-Written Play Festival. Artistic director Loman, technical director Eugene, literary manager Hedda, rich benefactress Mrs Bracknell, costumer Stella and the mysterious, moustachioed Stranger all have strong opinions about which plays are the worst of all; and their chosen scripts are the hills they will die on for the sake of awful playwriting.
Sit down comfortably and watch from the sidelines as these six drama queens blessed with overlarge personalities fiercely argue their choices, while deconstructing every bad writing trope under the sun – a no-holds-barred process that will culminate in shocking revelations and life-altering events ...