24 July – 3 August
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‘Urban Safar’ – more than a performance

‘Urban Safar’ is more than a performance; it is a form of immersive theatre. Visitors do not settle into theatre seats but are taken on a journey through the neighbourhood and through themselves. The boundaries between play, theatre and reality blur in ‘Urban Safar Tangier’ through the intense involvement of neighbourhood residents and a deep dive into diverse cultural and geographical perspectives. The starting point is the established adoption method, by which actors are ‘adopted’ and live in neighbourhood residents’ homes for weeks at a time. The intertwined lives and stories of these duos form the essence of an authentic theatrical overall experience. The three-hour performance tour ends with a musical grand finale by the Moroccan company Kabarah Cheikhats, celebrated in Morocco and Europe.

‘Look better, look differently, connecting – That’s what the [Neighbourhood Performance] aims for and manages to do.’– NRC Handelsblad

A sense of togetherness

This time the project takes place in Tangier, the hometown of project leader, performer and co-founder of Female Economy, Myriam Sahraoui. This fulfils a long-cherished wish for Sahraoui: ‘Tangier is a beautiful city full of contrasts, a place that can also be raw, full of challenges and of great potential. In this small piece of the world, my past, my present and what marks our work as a company come together; reaching out to the other as a life attitude, always in contact and in true curiosity about where working with the other can tip my assumptions.’ ‘Urban Safar Tangier’ aims to encourage keeping the gaze open and recognising the other substantially, even when you do not initially understand them. Universal issues – migration, emancipation, discrimination, gender identity and social stratification – are brought to the forefront by opening up the often unheard perspective of neighbourhood residents to the audience

About Female Economy 

The theatre company Female Economy theatre consisting of fellow citizens, native and foreign, outsiders and neighbourhood nomads, has been in existence for 25 years. The group creates theatre to bring about a profound encounter with ‘the Other’ from each person’s autobiography. The theatre company is the initiative of Adelheid Roosen, the first multicultural theatre company in the Netherlands, and was founded by Elly Ludenhoff, Nazmiye Oral, Myriam Sahraoui and Adelheid Roosen. Female Economy consists of artistic director Adelheid Roosen and creators Nazmiye Oral, Myriam Sahraoui, Leendert Vooijce and Anne-Marth Hogewoning.

About WijkVoorstellingen and the Adoption Method

Female Economy’s WijkVoorstellingen, led by Adelheid Roosen, form a theatre concept that involves artists living together with residents of different neighbourhoods. In 2010, with the performance Zina neemt de Wijk, the first adoption by neighbourhood residents took place. This was followed by WijkVoorstellingen in Amsterdam Slotermeer (2012), Utrecht Ondiep, Zuilen and Overvecht (2013), Mexico City (2015), Bijlmer Amsterdam (2015), Ciudad Juárez in Mexico (2016), Amsterdam-Noord (2107), the AZC in Utrecht (2018), Teheran (2019) and Paramaribo (2023). In the summer of 2024, this internationally celebrated theatre concept will come to the northernmost tip of Morocco in the city of Tangier. In late June 2024, for a two-week period, five actors from Morocco will take up residence with five local residents in Tangier’s old town. The gentle confrontations of their lives form the basis of the performance as a whole and the various scenes that sprout from it. Always with a belief that what you encounter in the other is the recognition of yourself. The scenes are played out in the homes of the ‘adoptive parents’. The audience is taken on an adventurous trip right through the neighbourhood and experiences daily life through the eyes of its residents.These performances offer a unique insight into the lives of local communities and are internationally recognised. Adelheid Roosen received the 2017 Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award for her contribution to various societies. Other awards and recognitions include the Amsterdam Prize and the VanPraag Prize.