US / Netherlands Exchange Project (1190 - 2000)

U.S. partner theaters from Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and
Atlanta choose 3 Dutch companies who would have extended residencies
in the 4 cities each year for 3 years. The goal was to broaden the
usual one-shot presenting seasons, deepen the experience of the
audiences in those cities, and also to provide opportunities for the
artistic communities to connect with these Dutch artists over a period
of time.
The original core partners were: The Baltimore Theatre Project; The
Annenberg Center, Philadelphia; New York Theatre Workshop; and Seven
Stages, Atlanta.

The first Dutch companies were: Onafhankelijk Toneel, Truus
Bronkhorst, and Stuffed Puppet Theatre. Chosen by consensus of the
artistic directors of the U.S. theaters, these companies were seen in
the Netherlands as quirky, but interesting choices -- definitely not
the usual suspects -- and set the tone for new and unusual Dutch (and
later in the project, Flemish) work.

In the mid 1990s, a strong youth theater element was developed, and
this led to the addition of a wider group of U.S. partners, including
The Philadelphia International Theatre Festival for Children; The
Pittsburgh Children's Festival; The Children's Theater, Minneapolis;
The Seattle Children's Theater; and New Victory Theatre.
Over the life of this project, 294 Dutch and Flemish performances (for
both adults and children) were seen in the U.S. Seventeen different
productions had 2 to 5-week tours. The original list of 4 U.S. cities
grew to 14, and participating institutions to 29.
During this time, we developed the process of "second steps" -- a
concept that remains central to CITD's mission. This provides support
for followup meetings between artists to provide for the explorations
that may lead to long-term collaborative projects.

Some of these collaborations:
New York Theatre Workshop's relationship with Ivo van Hove, director,
and Jan Versweyveld, designer (Het Zuidelijk Toneel) for productions
of O'Neill's More Stately Mansions and Williams' Streetcar Named
Desire

Seven Stages Atlanta with Onafhankelijk Toneel to produce a work by
Manuel Puig, which played in Atlanta, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and London

Seattle Childrens Theater in a long term relationship with 
Speeltheater Holland for several productions

New Victory with Theo Terra for a series of children's theater

The Philadelphia International Theatre Festival for Children premiere
of The Secret Window, by Nelly S. Toll -- a collaboration that brought
together Roel Twijnstra (Het Waterhuis) as director; Elizabeth Swados,
scriptwriter/composer; and a mixed cast of American and Dutch actors

Supporters, in addition to the U.S. partner theaters, were:

Theater Instituut Nederland, The Ministry of OCenW, The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, The Fonds voor de Podiumkunsten, The City of
Rotterdam, The Vlaams Theater Instituut, The Consulate General of the
Netherlands - New York; and The Pew Charitable Trusts.