Het belang van verhaalvertellingen en luisteren

Storytelling is one of my favorite experiences, especially when multiple stories unfold in a single evening. Each story feels like a book. By the time I leave, it’s as if I’ve read several books. In just a few minutes, a storyteller carefully chooses a moment from their life or their world, shaping it with words and emotions, yet leaving space for the listener’s imagination to complete the picture. But unlike theater, where emotions are often seen, in storytelling, they are mostly carried through words, allowing the audience to feel rather than simply observe.

This is what sets storytelling apart from theater. Theater presents a scene; storytelling invites you to create one in your mind. The questions linger: What would I have done? How would I have felt? That space for reflection is where stories truly come alive.

We live in a world where we often speak more than we listen. But storytelling reminds us that listening isn’t a passive act. It’s an act of imagination, empathy, and connection. The storyteller offers a piece of themselves, but the story becomes yours the moment you begin to listen.

The Chord door Meysam Forooz, Sahand Sahebdivani speelt in Theater Bellevue op vrijdag 25 april. 

Storytelling is my therapy. It's the way I make sense of the world around me. It's also the way I process the difficult things in my life in such a way that they don't feel so difficult. I call what I do drag therapy because every time I create a new show, I pick the topic that I'm struggling with and I use the theater show to get vulnerable, laugh and cry about the situation. The stage becomes the safe environment where I can heal myself because I write the script, I control the situation. A couple of years ago, I made a show where I played my mother and father. It was a way to heal the tense relationship with laughter. Not only did it work for me, it ended up helping people in the audience open up about their painful relationships with their parents. So now, anytime I'm struggling with something, I start writing a new show...

How 2 Have A Happy Ending door Indie Nile speelt in Theater Bellevue op woensdag 23 april. 

The story of Alice Femina is one of many refugee stories in the Netherlands. She has been in a refugee camp for a year and a half, and her case remains unresolved. The performance Extremist Alice offers insight into the asylum process in the Netherlands and explores why the protagonist was forced to flee Russia and her birthplace, Kazakhstan.

Tragically, on March 29, 2025, another transgender woman seeking asylum in the Netherlands took her own life. If her story had been heard, she might not have felt so alone in her struggle.

It is crucial to speak about this—LGBTQ+ people are forced to spend years in refugee camps, where they often face misunderstanding and violence. Since February 2022, this marks the sixth death of an LGBTQ+ refugee from Russia in the Netherlands.

Extremist Alice door Vladlena Sandu speelt in Theater Bellevue op zaterdag 12 en zondag 13 april.

Mensen onderbreken elkaar steeds vaker, ongeduldig als ze zijn. Denkend dat ze al weten wat de ander wil zeggen. De ander probeert haar gedachten te vormen terwijl ze praat en heeft de ruimte nodig om haar woorden te vinden. Of je spreekt in een taal die niet je eerste taal is en zoekt naar woorden. Snel zijn is niet perse beter voor een inhoudelijk beter begrip van de ander.

Luisteren is de ander horen zonder dat je iets wil opleggen aan de ander: je mening, je gevoel, jouw ervaring, een oplossing. “Oh dat had ik ook.” “Je moet yoga proberen of mindfulness.” Het is een uitdaging om te blijven luisteren en vragen te stellen om nog beter te begrijpen en het vertelde voor je te zien in plaats van jouw ervaring of jouw advies gelijk er tegenaan te gooien. Het is als een dans, het is meebewegen, je laten meevoeren met de ander in diens beleving, proberen voor te stellen hoe dat voor de ander wellicht voelde.

Natuurlijk mag je wel reageren met instemmende geluiden, maar niet het verhaal overnemen, wat zo vaak gebeurt. Het gaat om meelopen in iemands verhaal, meelopen in iemands leven. Kijk en zie wat ik heb meegemaakt, wat ik voelde, wat ik zag, hoe hard mijn hart klopte, hoezeer ik verlangde of bang was. Het gaat om je openstellen voor de ander. Dat kan alleen als je echt luistert. Als je jezelf openstelt zonder voorbehoud of vooroordelen.

Gurbet- or how I became rich door Soula Noto speelt in Theater Bellevue op donderdag 24 april. 

How brilliant is it, really, to just sit and listen to a story?
To be reminded of what it means to be human — I absolutely love that.
For me, storytelling is like time travel. For a little while, I get to escape into another world. I get to be surprised, to find hope, to awaken something in myself I thought I’d forgotten.
To laugh, to cry, to chase, to feel reminded to keep up the good fight.
To lose myself in imagination.
What more could I possibly want?

Every time I hear a story, it feels like my heart gets a reward.

Being from Ireland, I always say the Irish superpower is the craic — and the music, of course. But stories? Stories are where the real magic lies.
Even when truth was hard to speak, stories — folklore, myth, personal tales — gave us a way to make sense of things. To explain. To survive. To pass on wisdom, wonder, and wit.
They're not just entertainment. They teach us, connect us, keep us going.

I’ve always been a solo traveller. And stories have always been my companions.
They’ve given me a sense of belonging, of connection.
When I needed comfort, courage or clarity, I would turn to a story. It’s medicine, really.

And no matter who you are: a clown, a preacher, a Romeo, a raving lunatic, a misfit, or a small Irish woman — we all need stories.

We all fall! door Danni Cullen speelt in Theater Bellevue op dinsdag 22 april.