Dutch National Opera

Atman!

Leonard Evers (1985)

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Photo: Michiel Spijkers

Dates

21 December 2025 – 4 January 2026

Location

Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Studio Boekman

Running time

TBA

Tickets

From € 17

Jongen met gele regenjas en rode rugzak die achterom kijkt. In drie wolkjes om hem heen staat een papier gevouwen huis, sleutel en boot.

Youth opera about a journey full of obstacles

This Christmas holiday, Dutch National Opera presents Atman!, a musical tale that verges on the incredible. Nine-year-old Atman gets lost in his own city. He has the key to his home in his pocket but can no longer remember where he lives. He asks people in the street for help. A man has no time (“Ask me again tomorrow”). A woman takes him with her (“Boys like you make good sailors”). But Atman wants to go home, not sail across the ocean. What starts as a simple question (“Do you know which way I should go?”) turns into a journey full of detours and obstacles that, for a nine-year-old boy, sometimes seem— and indeed are—insurmountable. Composer Leonard Evers and writer Bart Moeyaert bring this journey to life through music and language.

One-person orchestra

Leonard Evers, known for the successful youth operas Goud! and Kriebel, loves theatre and has previously written youth operas for companies including Dutch National Opera and Zurich Opera House. His opera Goud! has been performed across Europe since 2012 and has been staged multiple times at Dutch National Opera. In Atman!, he explores all the possibilities of the accordion: the ultimate one-person orchestra and the perfect instrument to be played on the move.

For this production, he collaborates with acclaimed writer Bart Moeyaert, known for novels such as Broere and Een ander leven. His literary work has received international acclaim, earning him awards including the Flemish Culture Prize, the Woutertje Pieterse Prize and the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the highest honour in children’s literature. The production is directed by Annemiek van Elst, who previously created Eternal Road for Opera Zuid.

Ticket sales start

Ticket sales for Atman! start on 8 May 2025 at 12 noon. Don’t want to miss this on-sale moment? Sign up for our ticket alert and receive a notification when ticket sales open.

Performance information

Dutch National Opera & Ballet advises a minimum age of 8 for this performance.

Sung in Dutch

Music Leonard Evers

Libretto Bart Moeyaert

Stage direction Annemiek van Elst
Set design Douwe Hibma
Dramaturgy Wout van Tongeren, Joep Hupperetz

Co-production with Nederlandse Reisopera and Opera Zuid

Order tickets

Ticket sales for Atman start on 8 May 2025 at 12 noon. Don’t want to miss this on-sale moment? Sign up for our ticket alert and receive a notification when ticket sales open.