Wildfire
This summer Orkater will be playing in the Amsterdamse Bos Theatre! A nine-piece band of talented Orkaker makers will set the woods ablaze with a wild musical trip about our desire to be together and our inability to achieve it. Wildfire is a musical and visual spectacle for adult audiences to enjoy on a summer’s evening, inspired by Maurice Sendak’s iconic picture book Where the wild things are.
Location Amsterdam Bostheater
Duration 110 minutes
Genre Musical theatre
Language Dutch
English surtitles:
Thursday July 13 & 20
Thursday August 24 & 31
Thursday September 7
This performance contains intense light/stroboscopic effects. This may trigger a seizure in visitors with epilepsy.
Wildfire
Benni feels alone. She misses her father and worries about the world. An argument ensues, the sun is about to burst, and meanwhile everything and everyone rages on. The mounting pressure is unbearable. Benni escapes into a world where urges are given free rein, and anger, grief, longing and euphoria find their purest form. A refuge from big feelings. There, where the wilderness is.-|-Wildfire promises anarchic total theatre with more music than words, and is about the fear of loneliness and the urge to connect. How do we face an uncertain future without losing each other?
Director Belle van Heerikhuizen
The Amsterdamse Bos is the perfect place to exorcise our loneliness together.
About the makers
The role of Benni will be played by ‘Ntianu Stuger (1998), tipped by de Volkskrant as one of this year’s most iconic talents. Wildfire will be directed by Belle van Heerikhuizen (1992) who previously created the hit shows ILIAS and The Master and Margarita (selected for the Theatre Festival 2022) as a member of the Orkater collective KONVOOI. The script is by acclaimed young writer Nina Polak (1986), whose novels have received literary nominations and awards.
The music is composed by jazz drummer, composer and producer Jimmi Hueting, a member of the Nieuwkomers Collective UMA which made its debut in Orkater’s Oroonoko in 2022. As frontman and founder of the band Jo Goes Hunting he brought out two albums which according to de Volkskrant are impossible to listen to without grinning widely. MAISON the FAUX, who were awarded the prestigious Fashion Stipend prize by Cultuurfonds, will design the costumes. The set design by Ruben Wijnstok will highlight the wildness of the woods.
From season 24|25, 'Ntianu will join the ensemble of Internationaal Theater Amsterdam. Until then, 'Ntianu is a regular guest actress. In season 23|24, she plays the premiere of Primeval and Other Times (directed by Guy Cassiers).
Credits
concept and director Belle van Heerikhuizen writer Nina Polak composor Jimmi Hueting scenography Ruben Wijnstok costumes MAISON the FAUX dramaturgy Casper Vandeputte actors and musicians ‘Ntianu Stuger, Jonathan Eduardo Brito, Jip van den Dool, Denzel Goudmijn, Jacob de Groot, Sophie Höppener, Carmen van Mulier, Bart Sietsema and Jasper Stoop directing assistant Goosje Leeuwenstein lighting design Stefan Dijkman sound design Bram Anneveldt
