New: "The Incident"
On Sunday 17 May, our new production "The Incident" will premiere in Studio 1 of Internationaal Theater Amsterdam. ITA Ensemble actress June Yanez, writer Leila Sahir and director Zephyr Brüggen together create the solo production "The Incident": an honest and confronting coming‑of‑age story that portrays a society in which a child’s future is determined at school by where they come from and what their parents have.
With this production, ITA offers space for young, talented makers and its own actors to develop their craft and make their voices heard. For "The Incident", Leila has written a new theatre text.
June Yanez about
“Dreaming and imagining the future are privileges. Not everyone gets that chance. Class divides shape the course of your life from a very young age, and that inequality reaches far beyond secondary school. It touches your sense of self‑worth, how you see yourself, what you believe is possible. That moment of awareness — when you realise the playing field isn’t level — is exactly where this performance begins.
While creating "The Incident", we were inspired by several sources, including Michaela Coel’s play Chewing Gum Dreams, in which a young girl discovers that her place in the world is shaped not only by her own choices. We were also influenced by the series Klassen by Omroep Human, which exposes the inequalities within Dutch education in a painfully clear way. And, of course, by the work of former Amsterdam alderman Marjolein Moorman, who demonstrated how our education system structurally disadvantages certain children. With this performance, we want to explore what becomes possible when dreams are given space earlier in life.”
"The Incident"
Guadalupe is an almost sixteen‑year‑old young woman of colour. She has a sharp tongue, razor‑sharp humour and a tiny, tender heart. She’s standing at a crossroads in her life, in a world that does not give everyone equal opportunities. How do you dare to dream of a future when the world forces you to focus on simply surviving the present?
On just one square metre, June Yanez plays ten different roles: Guadalupe herself, as well as all the people around her. Together, they offer a glimpse into a world where some dreams are allowed to fly while others are pushed down. “The Incident” is an honest and confronting coming‑of‑age story, portraying a society in which you are labelled as early as school. -|-Where what you are capable of is determined by where you come from and what your parents have. A system that gives some people all the space in the world, while others are never seen for who they truly are.