Manu van Kersbergen brings his acclaimed performance De Herontdekking van de Hemel to BIRD on 04 November. This is not a sit-back-and-relax kind of theatre night.

Manu moves between spoken word, theatre, jazz, hip-hop and deep live grooves. Personal, urgent and straight to the point.

Through the eyes of a father trying to explain the world to his children, he touches on identity, racism, conflict and connection. No safe distance, no empty poetry. Just words that hit because they come from somewhere real.

On stage, beats, basslines and poetry constantly push and pull each other. That is exactly why this show fits BIRD. It lives somewhere between concert, spoken word and theatre. Musical and layered, but always raw at the core.

De Herontdekking van de Hemel received nominations for the Theo d’Or 2025 and the Annie M.G. Schmidt Prize 2025, and previously appeared at festivals including North Sea Jazz Festival, Nederlands Theater Festival and Theaterfestival Belgium.

“A beacon of light. Van Kersbergen comforts again and again with emotional texts, self-reflection and his deep voice.”
★★★★★ de Volkskrant