Horizon is theater about climate change, but not a gloomy doom story ★★★★☆

It is one of the most interesting theater experiments this year at the Over het IJ Festival in Amsterdam. It is called Horizon and is from Opening Statement, the upcoming theater collective of Joeri Heegstra, Samir Veen and Claire Bender. In their work, they explore the future, emphasizing the challenges that climate change will bring us and how we can respond to them as individuals.

The good thing is that it does not result in a gloomy theater of doom, but a hopeful array of possibilities. Horizon, directed by Heegstra, is a performance that is as cheerful as you make it yourself. As a viewer you make up your own story.

Spectators in turn report to the departure point, the pontoon landing at the NDSM wharf in Amsterdam-Noord. There you take the ferry across the IJ to Central Station. At the top, where travelers are not allowed, you get a one-on-one performance. You meet a young person of about 15 years old. He or she invites you to imagine a future for him or her. The bombardment of questions is initially overwhelming. Suppose it is 2052, where do I live? Who do I live there with? How do I get my food? Is the earth still habitable there?

You are forced to unfold a vision of the future for a child. Should you frighten it, reassure it, or offer it hope? And what do you wish for yourself? Meanwhile, the ferry takes you out of the hectic pace of everyday life and offers an unexpected place for unbridled reflection, fantasy and vistas. A view-expanding experience.