T H E D U T C H O N T O U R - Theater Instituut Nederland
T H E D U T C H O N T O U R - Theater Instituut Nederland
T H E D U T C H O N T O U R - Theater Instituut Nederland
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Language<br />
Dutch/English/German/French/Spanish/Italian<br />
Contact<br />
Artistic director: Herman Helle, Arlène Hoornweg,<br />
Pauline Kalker<br />
T +31 (0)10 – 425 95 88<br />
E info@hotelmodern.nl<br />
I www.hotelmodern.nl<br />
Small, but larger<br />
Hotel Modern<br />
than life<br />
Hotel Modern welds puppet theatre, animation, expressive art, performance, mime and music<br />
together to form a single organic entity. The company believes that imagery can be directly<br />
confrontational and emotive. Although they are not afraid to use scripts, imagery is their chosen<br />
theatre language: puppets, objects, actors, sounds and music are used in a variety of combinations<br />
to create exuberant, grotesque or happy worlds. Hotel Modern’s productions cover a broad<br />
emotional spectrum: from tranquil and tragic to energetic and comic.<br />
For the last few years, De grote oorlog/The great war en Kamp/Camp have formed the mainstay<br />
of Hotel Modern’s repertoire. Both are ‘live documentaries’. The first is a reconstruction of the<br />
First World War; the Western Front on a miniature scale, using sawdust, potting soil, rusty nails<br />
and parsley as trees. Rain emanates from a plant sprinkler, and bombs from a gas-jet. A friendly<br />
field gradually mutates into a poisonous wound of mud. Small, but at the same time larger than<br />
life. Camp is played in a stage-filling scale model of Auschwitz. Overcrowded barracks, a railway<br />
track, a gateway with the words ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’. With thousands of handmade puppets and<br />
actors moving across the set like giant war reporters, Hotel Modern attempts to imagine the<br />
unimaginable.<br />
International<br />
Hotel Modern has recently toured in Spain, Singapore, Hungary, Lithuania and Germany. Canada,<br />
America, Switzerland and Portugal are also on the agenda. The company made international<br />
waves with its production De Grote Oorlog/The Great War. The Daily Post commented: ‘World War<br />
I letters and diaries are brought to life in a theatrical experience that is poignant, powerful and<br />
yet so simple that, at times, it brings tears to the eyes’. Their work has won various prizes, including<br />
the Swiss Prix de Coppet for outstanding European artists.<br />
Kamp/Camp<br />
Photo: Ralph Prins<br />
The Dutch on tour Physical, site-specific and object theatre<br />
27
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