Join us for an exciting new installment of Campfire of New Writings, featuring fresh and thought-provoking theatre performances. This showcase of new works will take place at the Badhuistheater on April 4th and 5th at 20:00 (TICKETS HERE!)

A highlight of the theatre calendar, Campfire is a special night of staged readings of new short plays. It offers an excellent opportunity for writers to showcase their work in front of an audience and receive valuable feedback. Each edition features carefully selected works from emerging playwrights, brought to life by talented directors and performers.

Expect a night of engaging storytelling, captivating performances, and a celebration of fresh creative voices. Here’s the running order for the evening:

Good Grief

Playwright: Thomas Cripps
Director: Ben Evans
Acting:

• Denis Burke
• Silvia Petrosanti
• Domenico Gemoli

Flashing Matters

Playwright: Linda Sjöström
Director: Ben Evans
Acting:

• Christine Blakeley
• Evonne Dunne
• Ben Evans

Proposal

Playwright: Thomas Steffens
Director: Peppy Mac
Acting:

• Martin Koster
• Katya Petrova

INTERVAL

The Emperor

Playwright: Terri Sturman
Director: Domenico Gemoli
Acting:

• Brian Ligthart
• Türkü Köksel
• Martin Koster

Proxy

Playwright: Katie Zaniboni
Director: Christine Blakeley
Acting:

• Peppy Mac
• Ken Kitchen
• Evonne Dunne

Where The Quiet Used To Be

Playwright: Domenico Gemoli
Director: Alexandra Sokolowski
Acting:

• Denis Burke
• Katya Petrova
• Brian Ligthart

Don’t miss out on this special night of live theatre!

Brought to you by Jon Madge, Silvia Pietrosanti, Ben Evans, and Teresa Fernandez for Downstage Left.

Get your tickets now!

Downstage Left proudly presents Keeping the Zoo, by Jon Madge. On October 17, 24 and/or 31, join us at Monks Coffee Roasters for the live recording of this brand new audio sitcom. We will perform and record two episodes each evening. But don’t worry, each night we’ll recap everything that’s happened so far, so you’re most welcome to join us for any or all of the performances.

Set among the employees and animals of a failing zoo, Keeping the Zoo is a six part scripted audio sitcom about work, friendships and escaped animals, written by Jon Madge and directed by Becky Blomgren.

Inspired by the American radio serials of the 40s and 50s, and classic audio comedies like The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Cabin Pressure, Keeping the Zoo will be recorded live before your eyes and ears. Actors and sound effects will bring the story to life for our live audience (that’s where you come in).

The 6 episodes will be released into the wider world in 2025, so this is your chance to have your laughs recorded for posterity and to say you were there when it happened.

Where and when?

Monks Coffee Roasters, Bilderdijkstraat 46H, 1052 NB Amsterdam
October 17, 19:00-21:00
October 24, 19:00-21:00
October 31, 19:00-21:00

In July 2024, Downstage Left proudly presented The Arsonists* — by Swiss writer Max Frisch, translated into English by Alistair Beaton — a story about what happens when comfortable well-meaning people open the door and let evil flourish.

Biedermann is a successful business owner, master of her house, and an upstanding citizen. Just ask anyone, they’d all say so. But all that changes when she lets two suspicious strangers take up residency in her attic.

Could they be the arsonists who have been burning nearby towns to the ground? If so, what could they want from her house, conveniently situated in the middle of town? And, more importantly, what will she do about it?

Written in the aftermath of the Second World War, Max Frisch’s perennial satire of personal ethics and the weakness of respectability in the face of obvious evil has been brought up to date with a modern translation by Alistair Beaton.

Downstage Left’s sold out production of The Arsonists played at the Badhuistheater, Amsterdam from July 11-13

*The Arsonists is translated from the German: Biedermann und die Brandstifter. It is also known in English as The Firebugs or The Fire Raisers

We’re excited to announce the third edition of Campfire of Playwrights: two nights of six brand new short (10-15 minute) plays from Amsterdam-based writers, which will take place at the Badhuistheater on May 31st and June 1st at 20:00. Tickets are available now!

So what’s on offer this time?

Who the f*ck is Kevin?

by Christopher Grabski
Sarah’s suspicions are aroused when her partner Matt starts to behave in unexpected ways.

Moon Bank

by Matthijs de Graaf
Enos lives alone at the only continuously occupied base on the Moon: the ‘Moon bank’. Enos has received a message that an engineer, Robin, is on their way as a stowaway on a supply ship.

the Divorce Party

by Lauren Maxwell
Michelle recently got divorced. Her friends decide that’s reason enough for a party.

Pigs Ear

by Terri Sturman
A young doctor is taking up his first post in a small country town. His first major patient leaves him utterly baffled.

Reset

by Nóri Mátrai and Domenico Gemoli
Tim and Dawn like each other. Neither has the courage to ask the other out, so they enlist the help of technology. Things do not go smoothly.

Go Away

by Diederik Rep
Brothers Chris and Andy are not close. Chris’s recent bereavement presents an opportunity for reconciliation.

Get your tickets now!

Downstage Left presented Just a Song at Twilight, by Denis Burke at the Scene + Heard festival in Dublin’s Smock Alley on February 20 – 21, 2024.

A contemporary James Joyce flashback mashup, Just a Song at Twilight is a moving and amusing whirlwind retelling of the back story to Ulysses, featuring James Joyce’s big questions, The Dead, and the inimitable Sylvia Beach.

Directed by Jess Graham
Written by Denis Burke
Performed by Becky Blomgren, Denis Burke, Borislava Kospky, Alex McKenzie, Laura Keown and Marion McEvoy
Set by Neill Treacy
Lighting by Paul Doran and Dylan Delaney

Attention lovely audience! The first Campfire of Playwrights, a night of brand new short (10-15 minute) plays from Amsterdam writers, was a roaring success! So we’re doing it again.

Tickets are on sale now
Get tickets (€13.48-16.00) for February 2
Get tickets (€13.48-16.00) for February 3

Our next Campfire will be over two nights in February (Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd).

Downstage Left will draw on its regular directors and actors to help stage the winning submissions.

Submissions closed on December 10th. The new plays being performed at this edition are:

Corporate Ladder by Teresa Fernandez
Performed by
Amanda Lee
Mimi van Amerongen
Nikoleta Mougkasi 

Directed by Mash Muravina

Life After Death by Lauren Maxwell
Performed by
Christine Blakeley
Silvia Pietrosanti
Brian Ligthart
Nikoleta Mougkasi
Directed by Ente Breed
Music by Daragh Gillen

Obituary Wanted by Kathryn Zaniboni
Performed by
Pep Mac Ruairi
Rudi Araujo
Directed by Cathrine Andresen

Train of Thought by Terri Sturman
Performed by
Ben Evans
Denis Burke
Amanda Lee
Directed by Mash Muravina

Wedding Cake by Peter J Herzer
Performed by
Jon Madge
Türkü Köksel
Directed by Becky Blomgren

If you’ve written a short play and missed the deadline this time, or are inspired to write something, keep an eye out here for when the next edition opens or sign up to our newsletter.

We want to help brand new Netherlands-based writers develop their first scripts (or at least their first scripts in English). On September 11, 2023, we hosted the debut staged readings of some brand new scripts. ‘But you do new work all the time?’ you say. And you’re right. But these scripts were written right here in the Netherlands by brand new playwrights.

The audience got to see new work in progress, while the writers got to see how their scripts worked in front of an audience. Downstage Left is organising this Camp Fire night in collaboration with the Badhuis Theater.

In May 2023 we issued a call for scripts. We received a lot of exciting new work by writers living and working in the Amsterdam area. The selected scripts were read live by actors from Downstage Left and our friends.

The plays:

Arbitrary, by Domenico Gemoli
Aunty, by Ente Breed
Elevator Pitch, by Nikoleta Mougkasi and Emmanouela Reppa
Getting Away, by Jack Shannon
Trip to Rome, by Teresa Fernandez

Photos Borislava Kopsky