That’s a wrap! The Amsterdam Fringe Festival 2025 – FACE A TRUTH – has come to a close.
After eleven days filled with surprising and boundary-pushing performances, we wrapped up the Amsterdam Fringe Festival on Sunday evening, 14 September, with the presentation of the Fringe at Best Awards 2025 (FAB Awards).
The winners of the Fringe at Best Awards 2025 are:
Priscilla ter Voert – Daddy’s Little Problem Daddy’s Little Problem made a profound impression with its urgency, raw power, and deeply personal story. In a social context where violence against women and femicide are pressing issues, Ter Voert’s work felt painfully relevant.
She proved herself a courageous performer, unafraid to confront heavy themes such as sexual abuse and trauma. Balancing vulnerability and strength, rawness and humour with striking ease, the performance was intense without tipping into trauma dumping. The jury was unanimous: Ter Voert is a talent to watch.
Goyes’ka | Henry Rodríguez – Pulling Scales Pulling Scales is a physical and poetic exploration of transformation, exile, and awakening, inspired by Rodríguez’s own story as a Cuban and queer artist.
The performance reveals how political systems, both left and right, can oppress individuals, while also showcasing the power and resilience that can emerge in response. Rodríguez’s academic background comes through clearly, but so does a desire for a more personal, hybrid artistic language.
A bold and magical solo that lingers in the mind, Pulling Scales reveals a maker with great potential.
Rachel Hansoul – My Pussy is Coming for You My Pussy is Coming for You is a fearless one-woman show blending pole dance and storytelling into a powerful feminist manifesto. Rachel Hansoul tackles urgent themes such as female sexuality, autonomy, and consent.
What makes this piece especially relevant is its direct confrontation with the ongoing reality of gender-based violence and the limited freedom women still experience in public spaces.
The jury praised this humorous, vulnerable, and activist-driven work. A promising debut that deserves to be seen more widely.
The winners of the FAB Awards receive a guaranteed spot in Fringe 2026, a production budget of €1000, and tailored support from the Fringe team—based on what they identify as their specific needs. This could include help finding new performance opportunities (in the Netherlands or abroad), development support, networking, or promotional assistance.
The International Bursary Award 2025 goes to: Jana Jacuka – HA
The solo performance Ha is one of those rare pieces that defies easy explanation. At first glance it’s one performer in an empty theatre space. Yet the impact was overwhelming.
What unfolded was a profound exploration of the human voice: controlled, bizarrely precise, and highly expressive. Framed as a deconstruction of “ha”. A sound often associated with laughter, the piece transformed it into a tool to express pain, discomfort, and vulnerability, without ever losing its playful edge.
This was a performance unlike anything the jury had seen before: bold, original, and uncompromising. Strange, refreshing, emotionally resonant, and technically stunning. With flawless control over both voice and body, Jacuka tapped into something deeply universal. Ha was emotional, disorienting, dramatic, and funny—and continued to resonate long after the final sound had faded.
Jacuka receives a €3000 grant to present her work internationally at other Fringe festivals, along with active support from the Fringe team to help expand her network and bring Ha to new audiences.
A jury of 24 professionals from across the performing arts—national and international—selected this year’s winners from a field of 52 productions. With so much to discuss, this year the jury also chose to give out an Honourable Mention.
The Honourable Mention 2025 goes to: GARİP – cage-free
Cage-Free is an original and thought-provoking performance that merges dance, storytelling, and feminist critique into a compelling theatrical experience.
Işıl Bıçakçı cleverly uses the metaphor of eggs and chickens to reflect on the pressures of productivity in capitalist society. What begins as a playful, almost absurd comparison gradually unfolds into a layered narrative, in which the early moments of the performance take on new meaning in hindsight.
Cage-Free stands out as a powerful and urgent work by a performer with a rare combination of charisma and presence.
With this Honourable Mention, the jury wanted to spotlight an artist whose work is important and meaningful, and who absolutely deserves wider recognition. It’s both a gesture of appreciation and a heartfelt show of support.
The award ceremony was a spectacular conclusion to the festival, featuring a surprise performance by Wojciech Stachur, who gave us a glimpse into the artist’s process—with puppets, multimedia, and princesses.
Once again, the Amsterdam Fringe Festival proved itself as the place to discover raw gems, new voices, and artistic boldness. With over 60 performances spread across eleven days, the 2025 edition was truly unforgettable.
Congratulations to all the winners and makers! A big thank you to our jury and volunteers. We would love to see you next year!