(R)oma Courage
(R)oma Courage tells the story of a war photographer who put down her camera after becoming a target of violence herself. For years, she travelled to conflict zones and took photographs that were seen around the world. When an old photograph is unexpectedly sold for a record amount, her name resurfaces.
Location The Bookshop
Duration 60 min
Genre Theater
Language Dutch
(R)oma Courage tells the story of a war photographer who thought she had taken her last picture, until the past resurfaces. For years, she travelled from conflict to conflict. She took pictures that were seen around the world. Pictures that needed to be seen. When she herself becomes the target of an attack, she puts down her camera. Until an old photo is sold for a record amount and her name resurfaces.
An interviewer asks her for one conversation. She thinks it will be about her career, but the questions shift. The interviewer turns out to know more than she expected. About her past. About what she has always kept secret. About her origins. What begins as a conversation between an interviewer and a war photographer shifts into a life-changing encounter between two people who have had to live with a secret their entire lives. -|-
(R)oma Courage starts from the question of why Bertolt Brecht left Mother Courage's possible Roma background unmentioned. What could be a legitimate reason for concealing one's origins?
In this contemporary adaptation, Giovanni Brand explores who Mother Courage would be today. He zooms in on the world of war photography, in which images circulate, gain value and become detached from their origins.
Giovanni Brand
Giovanni Brand (1994) is a performer and writer who graduated from the Maastricht Theatre Academy in 2020. As a creator, he always starts from the perspective of the ordinary person, making it possible to empathise with big issues. He creates theatre for the people with an activist slant. With his foundation NO MAD IS ME, he works with a clear mission to further emancipate the marginalised Roma community and give them a voice on stage. His work also gives a voice to queer people, who seem to have no place in traditional circles within this community. His performances comment on various forms of discrimination within a macho culture. In addition to writing original, poignant texts, Giovanni uses raw images. These are interspersed with emotional songs from traditional Roma music, which form the beating heart of Roma and caravan culture.
Fania Sorel
Since graduating, Fania Sorel has performed at the Royal Flemish Theatre, NT Gent, Noord Nederlands Toneel, Toneelhuis, Ro Theater, Theater Bremen and Deutsches Theater Berlin, among others. She has worked with directors such as Alize Zandwijk (in the Netherlands and Germany), Guy Cassiers, Gerardjan Rijnders, Jetse Batelaan and Pieter Kramer. Fania won the VSCD Colombina for best supporting role in Onschuld (2007) and was nominated for a Theo d'Or for her leading role in Branden (2010). In addition to theatre, Fania also appears in films and television series.
Theater Na de Dam
Theater Na de Dam is a theatre event held on 4 May. Since 2010, theatre makers and artists throughout the Netherlands have been committed to giving extra meaning to this day on the evening of the National Remembrance Day on 4 May. This year, more than 150 performances will be staged simultaneously at 9 p.m., each relating to the Second World War in its own way. Theater Na de Dam also produces an annual theatre programme with the NOS, Wageningen 45 and Xsaga, which is broadcast on television on 4 May: Vuur van de Vrijheid (Fire of Freedom).
New performances
Every year, Theater Na de Dam approaches theatre makers with the question of whether they would like to create a new performance especially for 4 May that offers a contemporary perspective on the Second World War and today's world. These in-house productions by Theater Na de Dam are often revived.
Young People and Theater Na de Dam
Now that the generations who consciously experienced the Second World War are dying out, reflection on meaningful remembrance and “never again war” is more urgent than ever for the younger generations. How can young generations empathise with what happened back then? How can you recognise signs of the undermining of the rule of law and radicalisation that also arose in the 1930s? How can you make meaningful contact with the victims in order to commemorate them with dignity? How do you commemorate the past in these complicated times? Since 2012, youth performances have been an essential part of Theater Na de Dam. The more than 500 young performers from the 53 youth projects will come together in Amsterdam on 25 April for Youth Day.
Credits
Concept, text, performance: Giovanni Brand
Performance: Fania Sorel, Sam van Schie (internship)
Dramaturgical guidance: Jaïr Stranders, Patricia Anthea Oldenhave (Theater Na de Dam)
Production: Theater Na de Dam Productions
MORE THEATER
For bookworms and eager listeners aged 6 and up, we present The Bookshop Kids! Every first Sunday of the month, we transform our soft‑pink Bookshop into a place full of children’s stories where imagination has all the space it needs.
