Ragazze Quartet in ‘Not Cancelled Yet’

On 4 May 2026, we were part of the performance Nog niet afgelast (Not Cancelled Yet), a production by Theater Na de Dam. On the evening of Remembrance Day, this foundation organises performances across the country featuring theatre makers and artists to give this day extra significance.

We look back on a wonderful evening at a sold-out Carré Theatre with Maria Kraakman (acting), Bernadeta Astari (vocals) and Bram Kreeftmeijer (oboe), exploring the question of whether one person can save the world, set against the backdrop of the internment camp where Hannah Arendt was held captive in 1940 alongside some seven thousand other, mainly Jewish, women and children. A magnificent production that has received great reviews!

For more information about this production, see Not Cancelled Yet (Dutch only) on the Theater Na de Dam website.

Reviews

“It is a small act of defiance by a lone figure, which author Vincent van der Valk has cast in a clever and witty concept of theatre within theatre. Ludwig Bindervoet directs with a playful touch. (…) Kraakman plays Kaptein’s awkwardness brilliantly,” writes Hans Smit in Trouw. Of Bernadeta Astari and the Ragazze Quartet, he writes: “Breathtakingly beautiful on a wonderful evening at the theatre.”

“Empathy, imagination: these human qualities are crucial to our mutual understanding. But in these polarised times, they are under pressure. Are we losing them? No, Van der Valk and Bindervoet prove in the magnificent finale, during which 1,350 spectators watch the karaoke version of John Lennon’s Imagine on a big screen in silence. There is no music playing, but we can all hear it in our heads. You can perhaps imagine what happens in the auditorium at that moment,” writes Herien Wensink in de Volkskrant.