Soft Tactics for Hard Times

Merel Severs i.s.m. Frascati

Sat 20 Sep ’25 and Sun 21 Sep ’25

A program about what it takes to stand strong in resistance against oppressive systems.

Past event

Sat 20 Sep ’25

and

Sun 21 Sep ’25

Past event

Sat 20 Sep ’25

19:00

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 2

Past event
Sun 21 Sep ’25

19:00

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 2

Past event

In Soft Tactics for Hard Times, theatre maker Merel Severs brings together a variety of voices at the invitation of Frascati, for dialogue, performative interventions, and playful assignments. How do you fight for your freedom without becoming hardened? How do you create safety for yourself and others in a world that constantly keeps you on edge? And what does it take to remain standing in the midst of the struggle?

Together with changing guests, Merel reflects not on the struggle itself, but on what we can and must do to be able to carry that struggle.

From micro-aggressions on the street to internalized oppression, from family expectations to systemic challenges: how do you deal with the constant pressure? What practices do you need to stay resilient? And how do you make space for feeling in a world dominated by the rational?

Soft Tactics for Hard Times is about care and connection as forms of resistance. About (re)cognizing wounds and building resilience. About the interplay between body and mind—how thinking moves through the body, and the body shapes thoughts.

Seated in a circle, Merel invites us to actively listen and reflect together. A shared search for what connects us, not by erasing our differences, but by acknowledging them.

Combine your visit with We're all alone in this together

The program is open to visit on Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st of September, preceding and alongside We're all alone in this together of Kim Karssen.

Duur: 60 mins.
The program on Sunday is English spoken

Credits

concept & hosting Merel Severs guests evening September 20 Milou van Duijnhoven, Rina Ghafoerkhan, Çiğdem Polat guests evening September 21 Milou van Duijnhoven, Jay Muller, Avantika Tibrewal

About Merel Severs

Theatre maker, performer, and martial artist Merel Severs (1991) creates engaged, confrontational, and physical performances, drawing inspiration from intersectional feminism, body politics, and martial arts. With her distinctive style, she uses the transformative power of the body to question violent structures in the world.

Merel’s performances Let Me Tell You Something You Already Know (2020) and Try Not To Know What You Know (2022) were both nominated for the BNG Bank Theatre Prize. Last year, she toured with her latest production Coerced & Freely Given (2024). Besides being a creator, Merel is also co-founder of Dance Space Destiny: an open space in Amsterdam focused on community building, artistic exchange, and experimentation.

About the contributors

Milou van Duijnhoven is a performer, dancer, and actress. Her work unfolds from the tension between sensuality and strength, elements that resonate in both her physical and vocal practice. In soft sticky stamina song, the voice and body are guided by two heavy stones. These stones are both her burden and her anchor, in which the song becomes a form of survival.

Rina Ghafoerkhan is a senior policy advisor, therapist, and researcher at ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre. Her work in The Netherlands and in humanitarian settings focuses on the psychological well-being of forced migrants and victims of sexual violence and exploitation. She also has extensive experience in (post-)conflict areas, where she works as an advisor, trainer, and practitioner.

Jay Muller aka The Tank is the founder of Queerboxing, free boxing classes for everyone that identifies as queer. Why free you may ask? For The Tank, the answer is simple: feeling safe should never cost anything. Don't let the boxing gloves fool you, Jay is a friendly teddy bear.

Çiğdem Polat is a physical performer, theater and program maker, and intuitive movement coach. Her work practice touches on taboo-breaking themes related to mental health, cultural conflicts, and sexual identity.

Avantika Tibrewal's work is rooted in human behaviour and the politics of the unspoken in social normativity. Placing the body as a subject of meaning-making, Avantika moves between live performance and documentary interview.