Meet Mezrab, an Amsterdam based platform for storytelling and an important initiator in the development of storytelling as an art form in the Netherlands.
Holland Festival is teaming up with Mezrab to present a cross-over between their worlds. Mezrab has asked its tellers to prepare a mythological story based on a festival theme: 'home'. What is my home? Where do I feel at home? Holland Festival is bringing performers from this year's festival to this mythical evening to give a little sneak preview of what to expect in June. Flavia Pinheiro presents a part of her performance The Unborn and Claudio Jacomucci plays a composition from Mutability. Host of the evening is Sinead O'Brien
dates
Tue May 7 8:00 PM
language & duration
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English
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2 hours
Sinéad O’Brien is an Irish theatre maker and storyteller wandering across Europe sharing Irish myths and folklore and personal stories. She currently has two storytelling shows on tour, No One Is Coming and Hero/Banlaoch. Sinéad works with local communities and organisations to help them find their voice and celebrate their heritage. She is interested in mixing old myth and folklore with contemporary personal stories.
Jugal Bhinde is a storyteller with a background in journalism and human rights. Before moving to The Netherlands, Jugal worked as a conflict reporter in Kashmir, Jordan, and the West Bank. He believes there are several stories about people that get lost in mainstream media, and rather than listening to people in positions of power, it is the subjugated, discriminated against, and victims of violence who deserve a platform before anyone else. Jugal aims to bring these stories on stage, and act as a vessel for the voiceless.
Joseph Kearney is an Irish actor and writer. In Dublin, he wrote as a cultural journalist for Totally Dublin, The Dubliner, Le Cool, GCN, and presented Ireland's first gay television show. He has worked in Ireland's National Theatre, The Abbey. In a former life, he ran an improv comedy troupe in Panti bar. Joseph studied performance arts at the Liberties College in Dublin before moving to Wolverhampton to complete a bachelor's in Drama. He has two Masters, one in Journalism and a second in Dramatherapy. A lifelong storyteller, he has performed in pubs and clubs across Dublin and Amsterdam. Mezrab is his second home where he is often found hosting and or telling stories. Joseph has recently taken up comedy and headlined in the Utrecht International Comedy Festival.
Irina Koriazova is an Amsterdam-based storyteller. Born in a provincial city in Russia, she never thought she would leave. And yet here she is, trying to make sense of her life through telling stories. Irina has a dry sense of humour and she likes to turn things upside down: a huge scary monster becomes worthy of love, and a victim turns into a protagonist. Her stories are often described as raw and unsanitized. Irina often hosts and performs at Mezrab, as well at other storytelling venues and events all over the Netherlands. In 2023, she performed at Viva la Vulva festival, Oerol Festival, the Amsterdam Fringe Festival and the Amsterdam Storytelling Festival.
Chidi Ebere: author of 2023 novel Now I Am Here, believes stories are the reason humanity has developed this far. The imagination plucks pieces of the world around us and remixes them into new insights. These stories drive us forward. The vessels for Chidi’s stories are wide-ranging. Compiling the dictionary in Koolhaas’s (OMA) S,M,L,XL; designing the original World Online site; illustrating Bevrijdingsfestival posters (2001-2003); performing at Oerol. However, his greatest joy comes when telling stories in Mezrab; face to face and surrounded by his sisters, brothers and everyone in between.
