The Dutch are coming!

The season of 14 UK premieres and 4 workshops will give British audiences the rare opportunity to experience some of the most exciting and challenging work to come out of the Netherlands over the past five years.

In a guest blog, Journalist Works’ Will Allen profiles the season.

Presented in association with the World Fringe Alliance and supported by the Dutch Embassy and the Dutch Performing Arts Fund, the Dutch Season is a selection of some of the best shows straight from the Amsterdam Fringe, and proves a suitably eclectic mix.

Collapse is a hypnotic, entrancing musical performance featuring the prophetic Cassandra of the Trojan epics. Channelled here by Karlijn Hamer and Niels Kuiter, Cassandra foresaw the collapse of her city, but she was ignored and driven to madness. Full of foreboding, destruction and helplessness, this could prove an apposite piece of theatre. (Sweet St Andrew’s, Waterloo Street, Hove; 31 May, 2-4 June)

On a more introspective and risque theme Sexiety examines sexual desire in long-term relationships and asks where our ideas about sex come from. Theatre company Gehring en Ketelaars collaborate with journalist Gian van Grunsven and provide new insights about what sexuality is, and can be. Playful and inspiring, this is a blend of journalism and theatre designed to educate and entertain. (Marlborough Theatre, Princes Street, Brighton; 1-3 June)

Providing a study in music and physicality I Will Carry You Over Hard Times is the work of Maarten Zaagman and Falk Huebner. A percussionist performs music with no instruments. Performing to a live accompaniment, this is a study in form and a mesmerising and absorbing performance-choreography featuring marimba, vibraphone, gong, and bass drum, amongst other instruments. (Sweet St Andrew’s, Waterloo Street, Hove; 18-21 May)

In EFES, two dancers take on a relentless, physically and mentally challenging dance duet. Through it, they and the audience experience the intense energy of ‘Zero Mark,’ a state that is drawn from an infinity of emptiness. (Marlborough Theatre, Princes Street, Brighton; 3-4 June)