A journey along personal struggles on the parade

Up-and-coming talent, trusted parade faces and old rotten in the profession try to lure visitors away from the merry-go-round and eateries, towards their tent in Westbroekpark in The Hague. During the 35th edition of the traveling theater festival, rows are constantly forming for the play tents. “You know what sold out means: thickening!” Calls a ticket seller at room 4, one of the smallest stages on the site.

In room 4 is a fake hert between hanging plants. The sultry warmth and the sticky sweat give the space something of a jungle. Yet plays Duopethotti off in the polder of the Netherlands.

Lara Peters and Femi van Elshuis, students at the Amsterdam Theater School and Kleinkunstacademie, remain close to their own Gen-Z generation in the roles such as Yvonne and Roelien. They meet during the Women’s March in Amsterdam. With a bottle of Aperol Spritz, they decide to march the country outside the Randstad, where they have never been.

The generated, activist energy quickly makes way for inner conflict. At rapent pace, current dilemmas and headaches pass by: housing shortage, climate fear, loneliness. A moral discomfort around the use of chatgpt becomes a symbol of the dilemmas. “A tree is cut down for every word entered,” they say, and then ask the AI model: “Which bird do I look like?”

In thirty minutes a recognizable search for many Gen-Z’ers unfolds: how do you stay a ‘good’ person in a world full of contradictions? The message is hit and current, although the starting makers are hanging in repetition. A clear voltage arc is missing, so that the half hour turns out to be exactly enough.

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Jazz and poetry

Gershwin Bonevacia also brings an inner trip to the stage Gershwin Unplugged. Together with his jazz band, he presents his debut album Upwardsin which personal growth and the pursuit of dreams are central.

From the first words, Bonevacia knows how to enchant, supported by the warm sounds of guitar, piano, drums and singing. But above all with the power of his poetic language: “Going up sometimes means down or back. The power is not in who you are, but in expanding what that means.” You would like to catch and save every word to remind yourself if it is wrong.

Although it is not a classic theater and although Bonevacia sees herself as “writer and poet who makes an attempt to be a musician,” he and his band turn out to be completely at home on the parade.

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Trauma therapy with a wink

“We go in trauma therapy, trauma therapy, trauma therapy! I don’t tolerate all the incentives!”

Entirely in the theme of personal development and self -reflection, Monique Klemann and Lucretia van der Vloot guide a trauma therapy session. Well-known songs such as ‘Voulez-Vous’ by ABBA and ‘Gypsy Woman’ from Crystal Waters get a fresh twist with the musical accompaniment of pianist Jan Robijns.

Between the self -mockery, light texts and cheerful melodies, the singing duo cuts heavier themes: aging, heartbreak, fears and discrimination. They mainly do this together, but also with their own solo. Klemann sings a melancholic love song: “I close my eyes, count to four, when I open them you stand here again”, and Van der Vloot uses light irony to raise the uncertainty over her buttocks: “We were never girlfriends, my back and me.”

In a joint song about slavery they share their experiences with discrimination. The theme is loaded, but the tone remains light, without being short of persuasiveness.

The pure extracting, strong facialism and a positive energy make the performance an infectious therapy session that works surprisingly well.

Who thought that trauma therapy, a walk through the polder and a poetic jazz performance could be so uplifting? The parade appears to be a suitable place to question personal struggles and to laugh together.

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