Holland Tsunami
Holland Tsunami, Drowning in Europe
‘We are facing a rescue operation unparalleled until this moment. We must achieve a full evacuation of 16 million people within three months time. This means over 170.000 people per day. The problem still stands that we don’t know where to leave them. Only a few countries are willing to receive Dutch refugees, especially because there is a very limited chance that they will be able to return to their homeland.
From: (weblog) www.dangerzone.nl
The Betuwelijn (railroad between Rotterdam and the German border) remains idle, not because it can’t be used, but because now’s not an emergency situation. What would be an emergency situation then? The flooding of Holland. The Betwuelijn is the Dutch life jacket.
Holland Tsunami is a theatrical mockumentary. A ‘what if’- scenario about a tsunami threatening to flood Holland. It is Hungary, of all countries, that come to aid the Dutch. Holland will be entirely evacuated and the Dutch must try to build up a new life in Hungary.
What if Holland becomes a disaster area? Would it be conceivable for the Dutch people that they would have to leave their hearth and home, and everything dear to them? How will the Hungarians respond to the coming of the liberal and demanding Dutch? By placing the Dutch into a dependent position the roles are changed. Is Hungary ready for that? Can Hungary use this opportunity to show its hospitality and earn more respect in Europe? How will the Dutch integrate into life in Hungary?
Holland Tsunami is situated at the Keleti Pályaudvar (Eastern Station) in Budapest. SPACE will welcome the refuged Dutch together with the audience, who will be prepared for this special occasion during the show.
Will the Hungarians By zooming in on the mock disaster scenario, SPACE reveals the nature of the two countries. Holland Tsunami is an exploratory operation on national identity and the fear of loosing it. Holland Tsunami attempts to emphasize matters like the image problems of the new European countries and the conceitedness of the West in a light and poetical way. Complex themes are brought back to human standards.
Holland Tsunami is not a scientifical study, nor a political pamphlet, it’s a feverish chain of thoughts, that guarantees no answers.
“Dit is het einde van Nederland zoals we het kennen”
(“This marks the end of Holland as we know it”)
Paul Witteman during the last broadcast of the talkshow Pauw and Witteman
“Gaat u maar rustig slapen”
(“No flood in our time”)
P.M. Balkenende to the Dutch people
Concept: Petra Ardai ( NL , H)
Moderating, performing: Petra Ardai, Luc van Loo, Martha Shermann
Text: Feico Sobel (NL), Eszter Babarczy (H),?
Sound: Luc van Loo
Video: Marloeke van der Vlugt (NL), Ernst Süss (H)
Dramaturg (H): Anna Veres
Dramaturg (NL): Nienke Rooijakkers
Hungarian coordinator: Gergely Talló
Dutch coordinator: Wilma Kuite
PR in Hungary: Györgyi Falvay
Holland Tsunami is a coproduction of SPACE and the Workshop Foundation, Budapest.
Holland Tsunami will have its Hungarian première at the Low Festival in the Gödör Klub in Budapest, March 2008.
The Dutch première at Theater Bellevue, Amsterdam, May 2008, followed by a tour through the Netherlands and abroad.