'Short Stories' Performance

Polanentheater, Amsterdam,

02 June 2024

What is the 'Short Stories' Project about?


'Short Stories' is an experimental performance created after months of collective exploration and rehearsals, premiered in Amsterdam in December 2023, and then successfully repeated in the summer of 2024 for a broader audience.


The project was born from the ongoing research into embodied acting and the connection between the Michael Chekhov Technique and the Laban-Bartenieff Movement System. It looks at how movement can tell stories, reveal emotions, and connect people beyond words.

The performance brings together nine short stories by writers such as Nicole Veddle, Robert Tompkins, Andrew E. Hunt, Charles Enright, Damon Yanger, Brian Newell, and Hope A. Torres, woven into one continuous line. Each story keeps its own character and rhythm, yet together they form a shared journey — sometimes funny, sometimes fragile, sometimes deeply moving.

The nine characters of the play.

Each character in our play has a unique story, set against the backdrop of a mysterious city.



Although their paths don't intertwine, each tale is captivating in its own right.


The characters you meet along the way of watching the play may be very real (a housewife, a couple falling in love, a homeless person), and can also be visiting from the mysterious world (the Devil, Truth, Ghost).

How we used Movement as the smooth connection

from one scene to another.


One of the most exciting challenges we faced was how to interweave these diverse narratives into a cohesive and captivating play.

Through creative decision-making, we've connected these stories seamlessly, creating a singular theatrical experience that you can witness for yourself during our performance.