Robot van de Rommelmarkt

Children’s robot concert by Bram Ellens and Concertgebouw

Robot artist Bram Ellens will stage the children’s concert ‘Robot van de Rommelmarkt’ (the recycled robot), a short story written by bestselling author Tonke Dragt, at Concertgebouw in January 2025.

Child x robot

The story (from 1971) takes place in the future. Every child is dependent on their own robot. Learning is a thing of the past, after all, that’s what your robot does. But then one day the robot of the main character Edu breaks down. The only solution is an old-fashioned robot from the flea market offered by a somewhat eccentric figure. There’s just one problem; Edu still has to teach the robot everything (except reciting poems because that is the only thing this robot can do). Because of this situation, Edu learns to appreciate ‘learning’ again and, against his better judgement, he starts to build a bond with the robot. Until one day the robot breaks down and Edu receives some wise lessons from the man at the flea market, and he realizes that he has learned to stand on his own two feet and is capable of more than he ever dreamed.

Co-production Bram Ellens & Concertgebouw

Bram Ellens is the producer, artist and captain on this pirate ship project. Together with the Concertgebouw, he has assembled an impressive team to realize this project over the course of 2023 and 2024. Robot van de Rommelmarkt is part of Dramaturgy for Devices.

Please note: narration during this concert will be in Dutch.