Theater Babel plays
Romeo’s en Julia’s

A theater production by Paul Röttger

 

A contemporary translation of Romeo & Juliet shows how our society still influences our love choices and possibilities, especially if you are ‘different’. The performance revolves around the central question: are you allowed to love who you want to love? Abrasive themes of identity, murder, rejection and sexuality are questioned and challenged in a multidisciplinary performance with live music and projections.

 

Imagine being different.

 

Imagine having a disability.

 

Imagine having to hide who you are.

 

because you can’t be in love with someone of a different faith.

 

In this theater play, director Paul Röttger puts painful inequalities within our society under a magnifying glass, which not only people with disabilities suffer from. In the performance you see scenes from Shakespeare’s classic play, alternated with personal stories from the actors of Babel. You see and hear how the actors struggle with many of the same problems in their own environments. Longing for someone, being in love with someone, not being allowed to be in love with someone, not being allowed to sleep with someone; these are the topics the play is full of.

 

 

interviewith director Paul Röttger

 

Paul advocates for the importance of these issues and for them to be discussed in the theater and beyond:

 

What makes Romeo and Juliet still so relevant in our present time?

 

[…] I think Romeo and Julia is a harrowing story. It makes it very clear that others determine how you need to live your life. I think that society is becoming so tough on each other and I thin that the differences between people are increasing, which means that the opportunities of life are distributed less and less fairly. Many of my colleagues have to deal with the fact that others often decide what they can and cannot do, where they can and cannot live, because many of our players are people with disabilities. In addition, sexuality and identity are still a big taboo for many people in the healthcare world.

 

You can read the rest of the interview here.

 

The world has many tragic stories of Romeo’s & Juliet’s. Babel shows several Romeo & Juliet couples with this performance. Because love is for everyone. You can see this not only in the performance itself, but also in an open-air exhibition throughout the city of Rotterdam. From October 3rd, Rotterdam will be littered with beautiful pictures of all kinds of love couples played by actors from Babel. Sensational and taboo-breaking, but above all hopeful and loving.

 

From a hall-wide balcony, the audience watches the performance and live projected images.
The Babel band provides the performance with live music.

 

 

Afterwards, our players will serve an organic and vegetarian meal included in each ticket.

 


‘Theater Babel plays Romeo’s and Juliets’ is dedicated to Fons van de Moosdijk,
an actor at Babel who passed away in July 2022.

 


 

exposition in cooperation with Atelier Herenplaats
In collaboration with Atelier Herenplaats, an exhibition specially curated for the performance can be visited after the show. The exhibition features art by artists with disabilities from Gallery Atelier Herenplaats based on the themes of identity, falling in love, sexuality and not being allowed to live the way you want.

 

About Atelier Herenplaats
People with visual talent and a mental disability or psychiatric background are hardly ever admitted to the regular art academy. Herenplaats has developed an adapted art course for them. Lessons are given by visual artists and art teachers. Once they have successfully completed the academy, they move on to the artists’ collective.

production in pictures

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

 

DATES


2022
za 29 / zo 30 oktober
za 5 / zo 6 (perspremière) / za 19 / zo 20 / vr 25 / za 26 / zo 27 november
za 10 / zo 11 / vr 16 / za 17 / zo 18 december


2023
za 11 / zo 12 / 
vrij 17 / za 18 / zo 19 februari

 

reservations
At the top of this page you can select your prefered date and click on it to reserve tickets,
To the left and right of the dates you can find buttons to scroll through the available dates.
For questions about ticket reservations you can contact Yara Swaab :
06 - 18 41 38 35 | yara@theaterbabelrotterdam.nl

 

begin-time 17:00 hr

 

tickets € 20,- including a vegetarian and biological meal (after the performance)

 

location Theater Babel Rotterdam, Eendrachtsstraat 79, 3012XH, Rotterdam

 

Pameijer employees can visit this performance for free!
Your 'Pameijer' ticket is offered to you by Stichting Pameijer, which closely works together with Theater Babel.
Use you Pameijer email adress to reserve your ticket with.

 

COLOFON 'Theater Babel play Romeo's & Juliets'

   
director & concept
Paul Röttger

editing
Erik-Ward Geerlings / Paul Röttger

text personal stories
Erik-Ward Geerlings

clothing
Caroline Vogel

visual campaign design
Studio Lonne Wennekendonk

musical composition
Pascal Fontijn / Sofie de Klerk

Babel band
Johan Boekhout, Pascal Fontijn, Remo Schouten, Sofie de Klerk, Terence Patra

lighting design and engeneering
Vincent Peeters - C-project / Robin Berg

stage design
Gerard Helder

audio engeneering
Pascal Fontijn

camera
Henk Leurink

production lead
Dominique Mol

production
Christien Wagener / Yara Swaab

grime
Arthur Vriens

pr-marketing
Dominique Mol, Joran van der Kraan,

business manager
Deborah Stolk

bar
Erick Eckhardt, Hans Breebaart

education
Claudine Pantophlet

apprenticeship coaches
Corné Bouwmeester, Imca Bendt, Wilma O'Sullivan

actors
Ali Özdemir
Arthur Vriens
Aurea Ferreira
Claudine Pantophlet
Corné Bouwmeester
Dominique Mol
Imca Bendt
Johan Boekhout
Mary-Jane Mijnhijmer
Milton Oliviera
Patricia Oskam
Patrick Nassy
Remo Schouten
Richi Martis
Sharoma Dhoen
Simone den Haan
Sofie de Klerk
Terence Patra
Victoria Ochoa Urrea
Wilma O'Sullivan
Wouter Zevenbergen
Yasmine Harkassy


thanks to

Roelie Westendorp

Our inclusive work and the research to an transferable method is made possible by: Gemeente Rotterdamstichting NeyenburgPameijerstichting Volkskracht, Stichting Droom & Daad, the VSB fonds, NSGK and HandicapNL 

 

Theater Babel Rotterdam is part of the European project Crossing the line, which is financed by Creative Europe.

 


film "Zorgvuldig over de grens" (Carefully crossing borders)

 

MOOIS Cinematics


director

Christiaan van Schermbeek


editor

Douwe Wilhelm van der Werf


camera

Henk Leurink


engeneer

Pascal Fontijn


production

Dominique Mol
Geert ter Steeg


interviewees
Ali Özdemir
Arend Vreugdenhil

Doret van der Sloot
Nel Boekhout
Paul Röttger
Sila Polak
Sofie de Klerk
Wilma O'Sullivan
Wouter Zevenbergen