A change of pace

[Sahand Sahebdivani]

Hi everyone,

It is a terrible time in the world, we all know it. From the internal politics of the Netherlands to the terrible and inhuman wars on various continents, some of them aided and abetted by our own governments. On personal levels we also endured great losses, such as the respected scientist Frans de Waal, who passed away two weeks ago, and whose work on primates not only showed us we are not the only species with complex emotions, he managed to teach us so much about who we are.

In light of these global developments we realize we have to change our programming. After long debates we have decided to stop doing comedy. Not just the comedy nights, this will include jokes made during regular storytelling nights as well. It is the only way in which the proper gravitas of the stories can be felt. If we want our stories to have a modicum of impact in a polarized and grim world, we have to refuse the very mechanic that undermines their point. It is not a new idea. The revolutionary Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby advocated for the same in her seminal work Nanette: The set-up/punchline way of writing material offers no relief and the trauma which is mined for comedic effect only solidifies in the artist. These observations on comedy and laughter are confirmed by primatologists such as Frans de Waal: the primate smile was a way to show bare teeth to a rival in times of discomfort: do not get near me. The laugh is a howl that shows the full canines: now is the time to run away. What we thought was the ritual that brought us together, was actually the very thing that made sure our tellers and audiences wouldn't connect.

Getting rid of our comedy nights means we will have more time to dedicate to other forms of storytelling which never made it in our roster: Slam poetry (especially poetry that deals with the darker sides of the human experience) Tragedy nights (bringing readings of both the tragic theater classics from Shakespeare and more contemporary works like Ibsen. We will also be open to original submissions, we will not risk staging the Greek classics, as we know that tragedy plus time equals comedy).

We will go on with the Mezrab Comedy night this Saturday which is curated by Michael, as the artists have already been booked. However, he has promised the host will counter the comedic pieces with personal drama and tragedy. You can get your tickets on the event page. We expect tickets to go fast, as this last edition will be sought after: 

https://mezrab.nl/events/the-original-mezrab-comedy-night-3/

In regards to our other events, they stay the same, have a look at what we have programmed:

Tuesday (Tomorrow) / Mythos night / The night in which we dive into the great world myths. A special edition curated by master tellers and theater makers Raphael and Aryeh. This edition will be about the Flood!

Thursday / the music of rising star Raquel Kurpershoek Jaldón! Think Flamenco and beyond! Follow the link for examples of her music and tickets: https://mezrab.nl/events/raquel-kurpershoek-jaldon-%e2%98%85-nizami/

Finally on Sunday we have a very special musical storytelling/theater event. During the Amsterdam Storytelling Festival we invited the Israeli Aryeh Hasfari to play his protest music. In previous years his work had grown to become the soundtrack of the protests against the Netanyahu government. When the October 7 attacks and the subsequent war was unleashed Aryeh decided he couldn't play his music. Instead he wrote, in just a few weeks, a show that cast a critical look at everyone. A painful and brutally honest cry of humanity. For many it was one of the best shows which we ever programmed. He is now playing it only for the second time. Do yourself a favor and by a ticket to his show My Phantom Limb: https://mezrab.nl/events/my-phantom-limb-by-aryeh-hasfari-2/

That's it for now. I hope you are well. Hope to see you at the events.

Sahand & Team

www.mezrab.nl

PS, speaking of tragedies, the beautiful show of Sinead O'brien which combines Irish Myth with her personal complex relationship with her mother, is playing tomorrow and the day after in Bellevue Theater. Grab your tickets: https://www.theaterbellevue.nl/agenda/4972/sinead-o-brien/no-one-is-coming