GRIGORY SOKOLOV at Amare in The Hague

Dressed in a classic black tuxedo, he stepped into the soft light without ceremony, yet with a quiet command that filled the hall. There were no announcements, no words. From the moment he entered, it was clear that the stage belonged to him — not through force or ego, but through presence alone. He bowed once, sat at the piano, and began to play. And with that, the world outside seemed to vanish.

ONE MAN SHOW by VOX Muziektheater in the O. Festival in Rotterdam

The best part of the show was how curiosity-driven it was, it is narrated with a child-like innocence. The performers, enacting women from an older time, play out every stereotype of masculinity they come across, not just because they think it is better, but because they truly want to feel what it is like to be a man.

Van Gogh Museum acquires its first work by Henri Matisse

Matisse made Olive Grove in Collioure in 1905 during his first summer in the Southern French town, where he painted many significant works. Matisse shared Van Gogh’s fascination with the sun-drenched Mediterranean landscape; he used vivid and unmixed colours to capture the shimmering summer light.

NOW WE ARE EARTH by Nicole Beutler Projects at O. Festival in Rotterdam

This opera addresses climate change not only with positivity but curiosity. It beckons viewers to innovate, to disrupt, and puts the power in their hands. Spread across five songs, the best way to describe the production is: intuitive. The music by Gary Shepherd feels elemental, the choreography a conversation, and the overall performance highly participatory.

A MYTH at the O. Festival in Rotterdam

At the heart of A Myth is the question: what stories do we tell ourselves to understand our world, and what happens when those stories fail us? Vervuurt’s composition is a remarkable balancing act between familiarity and alienation. Echoing arias swell and collapse into sirens and metallic groans.