De Biënnale van Venetië reikt de Zilveren Leeuw uit aan auteur-regisseur Jetse Batelaan, “theatermaker van innovatief jeugdtheater, en niet alleen dat”.

“Just over forty years old, director Jetse Batelaan has become established on the international scene as a singular and innovative artist, with a strong and recognizable highly personal approach to theatre. Presenting works of powerful visual impact, Batelaan reinterprets contemporary myths, creating a kind of magic on the stage that seduces even the most sceptical of spectators. Thanks to his masterful use of theatrical conventions, the Dutch director, who chooses to address his works primarily to audiences of adolescents and children, succeeds in involving people of all ages, a characteristic that is intrinsic to great popular theatre. With Batelaan, theatre for children, which is often mistakenly considered to be second-class or in a category below ‘official’ theatre, reclaims the importance it deserves and which has been acknowledged in the past, as the history of the Biennale Theatre demonstrates”, aldus de motivatie.

Jetse Batelaan will present two productions during the 47th International Theatre Festival in Venice (22 July > 5 August): The Story of the Story, an archaeology of storytelling, and War, which addresses tragic themes with profound and unexpected levity.