Phobiarama

The World List of Phobias lists 535 extreme fears. Will festivalophobia become number 536? Perhaps it will, after a visit to this contemporary house of horrors made by theatre maker/visual artist Dries Verhoeven [Oosterhout, 1976].
His sinister Phobiarama demonstrates the way terrorists, politicians and some media explicitly play into our heightened watchfulness. On the one hand Phobiarama confronts us with our obsession with security and perfection. On the other it shows the appeal of the creepy. It premieres at Holland Festival 2017, and then travels on to Theatrefestival Boulevard.
Some practical notices: Phobiarama is not accessible to wheelchairs. Furthermore, the show is not suited for children under 14 or epileptics. ‘Enter at your peril’ certainly applies to visitors with overstimulated amygdalae – the almond-shaped nuclei in the prefrontal lobe that process fear.

conceived by: Dries Verhoeven
performed by: Michelangelo Hansen, Earl Daniel, Faiz Faouzi, Malcolm Pengel, Ozan Aydogan, Quincy Nelstein, Rodney Glunder, Rosario Roumou, Sohrab Bayat, Virginio Papa, Zouhair Mtazi