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Theme
Each edition of Oerol has a theme where the combination of culture and nature serves as inspiration. In 2011 the theme was '10 days the sound of an island' the guide to the hundreds of shows, musical performances and street theatre acts.
For 2012 the theme will be 'The wind spoke', as Joop Mulder announced at the final of the edition Oerol 2011.
Theatre
The theatre program contains about 40 performances, which are all to see during the whole of the festival period (plays are mostly 1 or 2 times a day). For the theatre program, the audience has to buy supplementary tickets. A total of about 600 performances and 100.000 tickets are available, ranging in price from 7 to 20 Euros.
The theater program is roughly divided into:
1 projects Atelier Oerol (Oerol scouts for new talents and invites them to participate in a workshop, to present a preview and furthermore to present a full size performance).
2 projects created specifically for Oerol (Residence projects)
3 representations from abroad, which have their Dutch premiere on Oerol
Atelier Oerol
Whereas in the past Oerol mainly invited Dutch new talents, Oerol now focuses to promote the development and mobility of new European talent in an early stage by exchange, reflection and deepening. Yearly, a specific group of international young professionals is invited to visit Oerol.
Their program includes seeing shows produced within Atelier Oerol, talking to artistic coaches and participating in lectures by experienced professionals. It serves as a stepping stone to apply for a development position later in the year and enroll in our Atelier Oerol workplace with a multi-annual production scheme which leads to a full production during the festival.
Read all about Atelier Oerol and the young makers in the workplace in 2010 and 2011 on the Atelier Oerol page.
Eline Kuppens - Bonnie en Clyde (2011) Photo Pieter Crucq
Residence projects
Part of the special created projects for Oerol derive from the residency project, for which Oerol invites national and international artists to do research, to write new plays, to experience the festival and the island and to develop their artistic work on site and prepare large shows for the festival far in advance. Not only does this improve the quality it also makes meticulous planning possible so shows can tour to multiple European festivals; more audiences can be reached, costs can be shared.
Theatre de L'Unité - Oncle Vania (2007)
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Oerol Festival
One of the festival terrains: the central music stage at the 'Groene Strand' (green beach) - Photo Pieter Crucq
The Oerol festival is an annual 10 day site specific, location based theatre and landscape art festival on the island of Terschelling in the very north of the Netherlands. The island serves as a source of inspiration and as a stage for the expansive programming that characterizes the Oerol festival with its innovative artistic profile in which culture, nature and experimentation vie for the centre stage. The spectacular dunes, Europe’s widest beaches, woodland areas, old bunkers, farmers sheds and fields form the backdrop to unique performances. Each edition of Oerol has a theme, selected by our artistic director Joop Mulder. It emphasizes the importance of the combination of culture and nature of the island of Terschelling within the program of the festival.
The unique programming, natural conditions and the very special atmosphere has allowed Oerol from its start in 1982 to grow into an internationally renowned and acclaimed multidisciplinary festival. Oerol presents theatre in its broadest sense; high quality street theatre, site specific physical theatre, dance, mime, text based theatre, musical theatre and performance arts. The visual arts component is reflected by landscape art projects that have a distinct theatrical quality. It’s all possible and depends on the yearly selection by the artistic team where quality and the location value are two important criteria. In addition to the above Oerol has two music programmers who seek out Dutch and European bands/musicians from different genres that have a distinct edge to them and for whom Oerol often could be the break through to a bigger audience. At Oerol all artists meet a large and curious audience. Not just the regular theatre go-ers but also those who rarely visit an auditorium or gallery attend Oerol. Here on Terschelling during 10 days each year art and society are the leading topic of conversation.
Representations from abroad
Oerol has known an increase in the number of offers of European presentations throughout the total program over the last 5 years. For example, the following European theatre groups were part of our program: Theâtre du Centaure (FR), Royal de Luxe (FR), Compagnie Serge Noyelle/Styx (FR), Generik Vapeur (FR), Groupe Zur (FR), Ex Nihilo (FR), Les Alama’s Givrés (FR), Les Apostrophés (FR), Compagnie Carabosse (FR), Compagnie BAL (FR), Art Ephémere (FR), Cirque (FR), Décore Sonore (FR), Time Project (FR/GR/SE/HU), Circolando (PT), Circus Klezmer (ES), Kamchatka (ES), dotMaze (UK), Roger Bernat (ES), De Roovers (BE), Berlin (BE), Walpurgis (BE), Circus Ronaldo (BE), Theatre Irrwisch (AT), Asere (UK) et cetera. Although the list of all international groups over the last 5 years is quite longer, it is clear that the majority concerns French groups due to the fact that the cutting edge site specific theatre that Oerol is looking for, is well developed in France. The majority of these groups had their Dutch premiere at Oerol. Due to his promotion of site specific theater groups of France in the Netherlands, Joop Mulder was rewarded by the French Ministry of Communication and Culture in the order of ‘Chevalier de l’Orde des Arts et des Lettres’.
It’s fair to say that Oerol isn’t just a brand on a regional or national level; on an international level the organization has left quite a mark in the last 30 years. Because of our broad experience in the fields of location based theatre and land art, creative director Joop Mulder has been asked as a guest programmer, advisor or artistic leader of foreign festivals such as the Klein Karoo Nationaal Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn in South Africa, Tac in Valladolid in Spain and the New Island Festival in New York in the United States. He also held lectures in Italy, Austria and France, amongst other countries.
Nowadays, the international contacts attract extraordinary new productions from all around the globe, to have their Dutch premiere at Oerol, which enables Oerol to keep its pioneering role to present outstanding innovating cutting edge productions from abroad, to give a boost to the qualitative development of site specific projects in the Netherlands. It also allows Dutch productions to spread their wings abroad due to their presentation at Oerol. Oerol is dedicated to the transnational circulation of these productions and showing new productions to the European public in order to boost to the qualitative development location based works. The artistic team, Joop Mulder and Kees Lesuis, dutifully visit a great number of festivals, theatres and workplaces in Europe, Africa and South America for this purpose.
Network/collaborations
Oerol is funded structurally (for the maximum period of four years) by the central Dutch Government for the “important role Oerol plays in the major and interesting development of location orientated work in the Netherlands and far beyond” (Dutch Council voor Culture 2010).
Since 2003, Oerol is a core member of the European IN SITU network of organisers, focussing on multidisciplinary European works dedicated to public space, through which circulation of artistic work transnationally is encourages. Oerol is partner in IN SITU’s META project; a European exchange opportunity. Oerol focuses on the strengthening of existing European partnerships and the development of new ones. Existing partnerships are mainly of West European origine. Oerol has starting scouting work, artists and partners in the east of Europe and Scandinavia and would like to develop these contacts.
Network / collaborations
1. IN SITU; through the network of In Situ permanent collaborations with:
• Lieux Publics / Marseille Provence 2013 France (FR)
• Kobenhavns Internationale Teater, Denmark(DK)
• Arge La Strada , Austria (AT)
• Kosice 2013 (SK)
• UZ ltd. United Kingdom (UK)
• Provinciaal Domein Dommelhof- Neerpelt (BE)
• Artopolis Association (HU)
• Ctyri dny Prague (CZ)
• Affiliated festivals: Chalon dans la rue (FR), Valladolid (ES)
2.IETM (Informal European Theatre Meeting; an important international network on performing arts).
3. Theater Institute of The Netherlands (TIN)
In addition to the above, although no agreements have been signed, Oerol collaborates permanently on the trans national development and circulation of work with partner site specific festivals in the Netherlands (Over het IJ Festival, Amsterdam) and abroad for instance; Theater aan Zee, Theater op de Markt, Zomer van Antwerpen (BE) , Manchester (UK), Small is Beautifull, Marseille (FR).
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Passport Projects
Since 2009, the festival program is divided into a passport program and a theatre program. The passport program includes about 20 small-scale performances and visual special projects that can be visited ongoing. Furthermore passport program holds 45 to 50 musical performances and 130 street theatre performances.
Each year the objective is to present in addition one or two large scale multidisciplinary land art projects that are directly related to the yearly theme of the festival, e.g. Walking of Robert Wilson in 2008 and Harmonic Fields of Pierre Sauvageot/Lieux Public (FR) in 2011.
The latter was the result of an international residency project, of which a small scale preview was presented in 2009. The passport – the "ticket" to the festival - provides the public with access to this program component that is stretched across the island.
The passport price ranges in price from 15 to 20 Euros, depending on the period of stay during the festival.
Look here for an impression from Oerol 2011.
Robert Wilson - Walking (2008)
Photo Anne Zorgdrager
Lieux Public - Harmonic Fields
(2011)
Music
During the festival, music is everyone on the entire island. A number of intimate concerts will take place on the festival terrain at the Westerkeyn and on the Green Beach, but also on fanciful locations like the Bostheater. The music programming at Oerol is homegrown and international, switching between grand names and up-and-coming artists
Street Theatre
Street theatre has been an important aspect of Oerol for the past 30 years. Back in the eighties the streets were the domain of maestros like Jango Edwards and Johnny Melville, who were succeeded in later years by Dogtroep and subsequently by the stand-up comedians and jugglers of Covent Garden in London.
In 2010 we’re going to fill the streets of West and Midsland with street theatre as well as music. Street theatre is the unbeatable atmosphere creator and the music will make it even cozier still. Take a nice stroll down the streets of West and Midsland only to be surprised by a far from mundane atmosphere. That’s Oerol for you!
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