O. - Containerbegrip
A poetic music-theatre performance about being home, on the move, and living between two cultures.
During the 2026 edition, O. Festival for Opera. Music. Theatre. enters a special collaboration with Fenix. In a shipping container by the quay, theatre-maker Emre Varlik presents the music-theatre performance Containerbegrip.
The performance tells the story of Emre’s grandfather, who came to the Netherlands from Turkey as a guest worker to work in the Rotterdam harbour, where he operated a crane. He left his family and friends behind and lived in a container home with bunk beds, with little more than memories of the mountains back home and cassette tapes he sent to his family.
In this 25-minute performance, the audience is taken through his story and the legacy of his migration for the second generation.
About the performance
“Perhaps this container is a repository of stories and items from my past. A forgotten space full of junk that characterizes my history. Items stored on a vacant lot.
Or perhaps this container is a space on the move. A culture. A journey of goods arriving in port. From the outside, all these journeys look the same, but secretly they all contain something different: fruit about to spoil, second-hand clothes, hidden drugs. Goods from all over the world, which together become part of my international identity.
Identity, yet another catch-all term. A word that can mean everything and, at the same time, defines nothing. Perhaps I am a container myself, searching for filling, for stories, for meaning.
My grandpa looks at the containers from his crane and stacks them one by one, without knowing what is inside. He fantasizes, makes up stories. And when he is finished, he goes back to his own container: with a table and a bed.
A temporary Dutch home.”
A performance by Emre Varlik & Simone van der Steen (TR/NL).
Photo's: Moon Saris
Practical
Tickets for the performance are available at Fenix as a combination ticket: for €20, you get access to the performance and can visit the museum all day. Want to attend the performance only? Then buy a ticket via the O. website.
Performance dates and times:
27 May: 1 / 3 / 5 p.m.
28 May: 1 / 3 / 5 p.m.
29 May: 1 / 3 / 5 p.m.
30 May: 1 / 3 / 5 p.m.
31 May: 1 / 3 / 5 p.m.
About O. Festival for Opera. Music. Theatre. 2026
O. Festival for Opera. Music. Theatre. is an international festival with a programme full of surprises: from international highlights to distinctly Rotterdam and adventurous site-specific projects. During O. 2026, 150 performances by 55 productions will take place across 40 locations throughout Rotterdam. From works in progress to world premieres, created by young artists and established names from home and abroad. The full programme can be found on the website: o-festival.nl.