Jabberbabble embarks on an international tour (again)
Critical acclaim, a Golden Cricket (Gouden Krekel – the foremost youth theater award in The Netherlands) for playwright Jibbe Willems and a string of international performances: Jabberbabble is an absolute success. Kwatta travelled with Jabberbabble to China last August, for a residency at the Art Space for Kids in Beijing. We collected some interesting and often intriguing impressions among the visitors there…
In China too, Jabberbabble received a lot of positive reactions. After the performances in Beijing, children stood in line to get a picture with the cast. The made up language by Jibbe Willems was interpreted in wildly different ways, but left no one indifferent. We present a few excerpts from some of those reactions below, along with the original (social media) posts. Next up on the Jabber agenda are the below UK and Ireland dates!
October 17th – October 20th: Baboró Festival, Galway (Ireland)
October 25th – October 26th: TAKE-OFF Festival, Durham (UK)
“On the way home, we used the bird language with our children”
“The venue was quiet, except for the laughing children. A bird language composed out of 20 different languages is impossible to understand, but you can feel the meaning of the words”
“Adults and children interpret the play totally different. To me, this is a dark fairy tale while children probably see it as a happy story”
“Me and my daughter have different opinions about Jabber’s message. I asked her if she would want to leave the nest if she was a bird, to which she replied no. Then I asked her if she wouldn’t rather stay home instead of going on vacation next month, but according to her, our home is not as beautiful [as the nest]”
“Somehow, Jabber reminderd me of the movie ‘The Truman Show'”




Gouden Krekel voor Jibbe Willems
Wat een fantasmol nieuws! Jibbe Willems wint de ‘Gouden Krekel voor de meest indrukwekkende podiumprestatie in het jeugdtheater’ voor zijn libretto voor onze voorstelling Jabber. Wat zijn we trots! De Gouden Krekel is één van de VSCD Toneelprijzen die jaarlijks worden uitgereikt aan acteurs, actrices en theatermakers, tijdens het Gala van het Nederlands Theater.
Jibbe Willems kon zelf niet aanwezig zijn, dus nam Josee Hussaarts, artistiek directeur van Kwatta, de prijs namens hem in ontvangst. En Jibbes dankwoord was er niet zo maar één… het was namelijk compleet geschreven in de taal van de voorstelling. In Jabber-taal dus! Hoe dat klonk? Dat zie je in onderstaand filmpje!
Alle winnaars van de VSCD Toneelprijzen. Foto: Anna van Kooij