Amsterdam Fringe Festival

The theatrical Fringe

For 10 days in September, Amsterdam is in the grip of the stage arts, with the Dutch Theatre Festival and the accompanying Fringe Festival taking place from 1 to 11 September. While the Dutch Theatre Festival revisits last season's most successful productions, the Fringe ensures that avant-garde theatre isn't left behind.

Turning the city into a stage

Staging around 80 productions by cutting-edge home-grown and international producers and artists at over 25 locations, the Amsterdam Fringe Festival turns the entire city into a stage. From theatres to clubs, the streets and even living rooms, the eccentricity that is the Fringe occupies the edges of both stage and performance with all the bizarre, brooding and brilliant performance art we've come to attribute to fringe festivals from live art, theatre, musical theatre, comedy and dance.

Language no problem

With such a fantastic line-up of international productions, the festival promises a wide selection of events that are 'Language No Problem' (i.e. accessible to non-Dutch speakers), for those whose Nederlands is not quite up to scratch. Look for the 'LNP' marker just to be sure.

Our picks of 2011

Amanda Palmer

One half of the 'Brechtian punk' duo Dresden Dolls, Ms Palmer has enticed Amsterdam audiences many a time before. At this edition of Fringe, she presents a solo show.

Monika Hunken - The Wild Finish

In this one-woman adventure story, New York-based Monika Hunken recreates the bike trip she took through Poland as an American in search of her enigmatic Polish grandfather.

Chaliwaté Compagnie - Joséphina

The Chaliwaté Company combines verbal poetry and poetic movement for a story of a man and a woman crossing paths. From flashbacks to disturbing dreams and from scattered memories to obsessive desire, the spectator is free to piece together the puzzle of a dreamt or broken relationship, the story of a shattered or idealised couple.

Best of Prague Fringe: Tie Day Media and Harmony Stempel - Human Fruit Bowl

Using fragments of found text, this performance examines the relationship between painters and their models in order to uncover the 'unsuspected power of the naked person in the room.'

The Yes Men Fix the Netherlands

The notorious 'creative activism' group The Yes Men, famous for posing as industry big shots in media appearances as well as closed conferences, lead the audience through their best-known hoaxes, featuring props used in the pranks and unreleased footage from their recent and classic exploits.

For complete programme information, see www.amsterdamfringe.nl.