Lieve Stad, 2023

Sara Correia performs live Do Coração, the album nominated for the Latin Grammy 2021 and winner of the Best Fado Album at the PLAY Awards. Produced by Diogo Clemente, the album is nominated for Best Portuguese Language Roots Album.

Theatre RAST, which responds to what is happening in the world from its Turkish-Dutch DNA, brings a new text by Aron Goosens who took his inspiration from Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Waiting for Godot and Invisible Tales from the Valley of Ararat.

We, the Shameless gives us a different take on a solo. Two connected bodies have their shared "bodily memory", but also their dual identities. Without any shame, they share this discord with the audience.

The stories from a thousand-and-one nights still capture the imagination. Writer and presenter Abdelkader Benali compellingly tells the story of Shahrazade and how she manages to enchant the tyrant of Baghdad with her storytelling so much that she manages to postpone her own execution by a day each time. Abdelkader gives a modern twist to the fairy tales and Club Classique matches music and words.

Jihad van Liefde is a musical story based on the book of the same name. In it, David Van Reybrouck chronicled the moving story of Mohamed El Bachiri. This metro driver from Molenbeek, Belgium, lost his great love and mother of his three children in the terror attack in the Brussels metro on 22 March 2016.

Surpassing the beeline delves into the stories of Amsterdam's expat community. Stories of those who are emigrants when they leave home and become immigrants elsewhere; their past, present and sense of 'home' completely intertwined. The emigrant from one country, is the immigrant from another.

SLAKJE is a theatre monologue of integrity about abuse and how it can scar your life. About people's incredible ability to keep hope, against the odds.

Join us on a spiritual journey from Persia to Anatolia and from the Levant to Andalusia. Poems by mystical poets such as Rumi, Rabia Al Adawiya and Ibn Arabi will be recited under the leadership of world-renowned Persian singer Mohammad Motamedi, a world first.

Alles naar de Hemel is about making an impossible choice between life and death and the inhuman quest that precedes it. An inventive and fascinating rollercoaster of emotions, in a loving ode to all people who love their children.

Luan Buleshkaj is a word artist in the broadest sense and is an established name in the spoken word scene in the Netherlands. Leeuwenkind is his first solo performance. He is supported musically by guitarist Yassine Belghanch. 'Spoken word at top level, with a touch and cabaret,' said the Amsterdam Fringe Festival jury.

The Story of Travis is a new stage play inspired by Lorraine Hansberry's Broadway classic A Raisin in the Sun. About the importance of having dreams, making your voice heard in a world that doesn't seem set up for you and finding a home. In poetic monologues, recognisable family situations and spiritual dialogues, the performance questions the burden of the black (American) dream and what it is like to be sent into the world as the only hope of your family.

The Money Game jr. is an investigation into our derailed financial system made with and by a generation growing up in the middle of it. Everything has a value. Money is power. In 2023, influence has a price and the bosses of Insta, Apple and Amazon run the world. Money makes the world go round, but only for the very rich. What should the rest do with a financial system where there seems to be no way out? And is there a cost for screwing up the world?

Who is actually a real Amsterdammer? Lieve Stad's daily context programme, is about the Amsterdammer, the life of the Amsterdammer, and the city. Get inspired, hear new stories and perspectives.

During the festival, we organise Talks and editions of In Gesprek accompanying various performances, and there are exhibitions to visit in both Internationaal Theater Amsterdam and Meervaart.

This exhibition is the result of a photography project with young Amsterdammers at Meervaart & Foam, given by Coco Olakunle.

From heartbreak, identity and from family history to learning to let go, the photo exhibition 'Growth Pain' shows the intimate work of eight young photographers, who tell their personal stories based on the theme of 'growing up'.