We are your friends
Europe’s use-by date
De Warme Winkel has a great love of history and a fascination with our era, which is both complex and polymorphous. In 2011 we got to know the group and their series De Weense Herfst, in which they portrayed early twentieth-century writers in their own, unique way.
This time they are getting their teeth into the crisis that is now sweeping through Europe. By analogy with the Arab Spring, De Warme Winkel is fighting for an Amsterdam Spring: political and poetic pieces that energetically probe the painful wound. In their previous productions they became involved in the ‘war of cultures’ and dealt with the crisis. In their new piece, We are your friends, they test Europe’s use-by date.
De Warme Winkel was invited to create this production by Brussels, Prague, Lisbon, Toulouse, Amsterdam and Berlin, but they do not know which country needs their empathy (and triple-A rating) most. The group shows its solidarity and tests yours, in search of original perspectives and pan-European long-views.
De Warme Winkel describes its performances as events in which it plays with styles, forms, expectations, clichés and the audience. They take the audience on a journey through the topic. In a struggle that is playful, witty and tough they try to convey the essence and beauty of the subject to the audience.
concept en spel Mara van Vlijmen, Maria Kraakman, Ward Weemhoff en Vincent Rietveld | eindregie Marien Jongewaard | compositie & geluidsontwerp Bo Koek | lichtontwerp Prem Scholte Albers | productie De Warme Winkel (Utrecht)
A House on Fire co-production; with the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union