This year, three impressive former Amsterdam Fringe Festival performances have been nominated by the jury of the Nederlands Theater Festival (NTF) for some of the most prestigious theatre awards in the Netherlands.

The winners will be announced during the NTF Gala on 14 September at Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA). Even better: all three shows are performing during NTF! You don’t want to miss them!

The nominees are:

• Göbek Aşkı – Çiğdem Polat

Nominated for the BNG Bank Theater Prize
Göbek Aşkı is a physical theatre performance about leading a double life and the quiet love languages within an Islamic family.
From the jury report: “Çiğdem Polat creates a space where worlds come together. With strong scenography and fiery dance, she portrays a loving yet lonely atmosphere, balancing the fear of loss with the risk of losing herself.”

Performances: 9 & 10 September at Theater Bellevue | 17:30 – 18:10
Originally performed at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival in September 2024

• Manu en de Herontdekking van de Hemel
  Paradiso Melkweg Productiehuis | DOX | Manu van Kersbergen | .multibeat

Selected for the NTF Jury Selection and the Flemish Theatre Jury, and nominated for the Theo d’Or for Most Groundbreaking Stage Performance

An experimental, poetic, and musical search for a new kind of language. One that embraces both the creative and destructive power of words.

Performances: 7 September at Bijlmer Parktheater (15:00)
8 September at De Kleine Komedie (20:15)
Presented at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival in September 2022

• The Horse of Jenin – Alaa Shehada | Troupe Courage

Nominated for the BNG Bank Theater Prize

A powerful and urgent solo comedy performance about survival and freedom. Alaa Shehada brings Palestinian stories to life with humour, rage, and poetic imagination, sharing his experience of growing up under occupation.

Performances: 8 September at Bijlmer Parktheater (20:00)
10 & 11 September at Theater Bellevue (20:30)
First performed at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival in 2024

We’re incredibly proud to see these former Fringe makers get recognised at this level.