De Surpriseshow - Nazanin Taheri, Via Rudolphi Producties & TOBAL

The Surprise Show tells the poignant story of a child growing up between uncertainty and hope. In 1994, Nazanin fled Iran to the Netherlands as a young girl and ended up in the Kollum Asylum Seekers' Centre. Her biggest dream? To participate in The Surprise Show.

Every day she practiced her lip-syncing skills in front of the mirror, convinced that Henny Huisman would call. At the asylum seekers' center, she befriended Maya Bradarić and was spat on after the murder of Marianne Vaatstra. She waited for certainty, for papers, and for an invitation.

Years later, Nazanin Taheri stands on stage herself, with an acting diploma, a flourishing career on TV and in the theater, and finally one step closer to Henny Huisman. In her raw, hilarious, and moving solo performance, she asks the question that has been waiting for an answer for years: what happens to the dreams of a girl who saw everything, but was never seen?

About the company and creators: Nazanin Taheri (1987, Iran) fled to the Netherlands as a child and grew up in the Kollum Asylum Seekers' Centre. Her experiences form the basis of her work as a theatre maker. She built a multifaceted career in theatre and television, performing at Het Nationale Theater, De Toneelmakerij, and Theatergroep Suburbia. On TV, she appeared in Bennie (Videoland) and De Ballonvaarder (Disney+). Since 2015, she has been making theatre with young people in asylum seekers' centres with her own theatre group IND (In Nederland Dromen). The Surpriseshow is her first solo performance.

TOBAL creates inclusively accessible theater: a place where everyone can feel welcome, where there is room for both recognition and representation. By telling stories about the people in our society, the audience recognizes themselves and can acknowledge the other. Only then does theater truly have an impact.

Via Rudolphi Producties works with autonomous performing makers who tell stories that have not yet been told enough and want to shed new light on them. From top graduate talents to professionals who have seen the whole world. Their performances are recognizable, engaging, thought-provoking, emancipatory, confrontational, sometimes uncomfortable, quasi-realistic, with a touch of tragedy and a lot of humor.