Echte Verhalen (2017)

Echte Verhalen (Eng. True Stories) is a new production of music theatre through socially engaged forms of storytelling. It gives a voice to those who have been marginalized, forgotten or unheard in society. The foundation of Echte Verhalen is the intertwined connection between meaningful and personal music and the underlying stories. Some of these stories are kept secret from the outside world or even from their family members for many years. This important participatory art feature gives Echte Verhalen its characteristics. The first play took place in March 2017, and was carried out by Catholic and Protestant women who have been affected by The Troubles in Northern Ireland, and contained the following themes: the transfer of personal heritage, true love and the value of compliments. The second play was performed by Dutch young adults, with an average of twenty-two years. The performers gave a voice to the impactful and largely invisible events that they have experienced. The themes of this performance are: murder, sexual abuse, sexual assault and bullying. Echte Verhalen is a production that combines participatory art with real life dialogues. The participants receive full ownership of the performance. During the performance they enter the dialogue of real life events and initiate dialogues with the audience. Due to the privacy, safety and with permission of the participants we only use the audio of their personal songs. _____________ Copyright 2017, Moonyard Productions, Amsterdam (NL)