Joseph Oubelkas — 1637 Dagen van Onrecht at Boom Chicago, Amsterdam

Boom Chicago’s Upstairs Theater in Amsterdam hosts Joseph Oubelkas’s 1.5-hour live show, 1637 Dagen van Onrecht, a raw, sharply funny retelling of a decade that was never his. On a business trip at twenty-four he was arrested in Morocco, convicted without evidence, and spent 1,637 days in prison. That stark number becomes the spine of an evening that shifts between bleak detail and surprising warmth.

The show takes place in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, at Boom Chicago Upstairs Theater, a compact performance room that turns close seating into company. The stage is simple—one storyteller, spare props, and a voice that carries you from a Moroccan cell block to the cramped kitchens of memory. Key features of the experience are Oubelkas’s mixing of humor and heartbreak, the pacing of his anecdotes, and the way small acts—letters to his mother, gratitude for food—become large, humane gestures. This is storytelling stripped of spectacle and rooted in lived detail.

Readers who visit Amsterdam for canals and galleries will find this performance a different kind of local landmark: a live memoir that doubles as a meditation on forgiveness, justice, and personal sovereignty. The show is based on his books, including 400 brieven van mijn moeder and Gezondheid, Liefde, Vrijheid, and those texts give the performance its structure—rising scenes, recurring motifs, and a final argument for choosing growth over hate. Cultural context matters: Oubelkas’s narrative probes international justice, immigrant experiences, and the resilience of family ties in a European capital that prizes open conversation.

Practicalities are straightforward. The performance runs 1.5 hours with no intermission; general admission tickets are included. Boom Chicago’s Upstairs Theater sits within walking distance of central Amsterdam transit, making it an easy evening stop after museums or a canal ride. Arrive early to claim a good seat—the intimacy amplifies emotional beats—and bring little more than an appetite for direct, unvarnished narrative.

Tickets are affordable (around €33) and available through the venue’s booking link; bring a printed or mobile confirmation and plan transport—trams and metros stop nearby. The performance’s tight focus rewards attentive listening: phones off, quiet applause, and time to reflect afterward in a nearby café or along a canal. For independent travelers and small groups, it’s a cultural investment that reshapes an evening in Amsterdam into a conversation that continues after lights go down.