theatre direction (selection)


prometheus by aischylos (1990)

cast: francis weismuller, anke jansen, hilt de vos
theatre company Ellips

This light and bright representation takes the first tragedy in stage history close to the most modern plays of our
century. The tension is to be found in tiny details and in what happens on the spot between the three young
women. (De Groene)
Within the basic stage scenery, there are small, absurd accents that lend cheerful touches to the performance.
Quite like the bizarre dance or the sound of a primitive ritual that briefly interrupt the intensely enacted dialogue.
Prometheus as a chamber play is a relief after the spectacular presentation by Hollandia last season. Here the
text is given the prudent performance that it demands. (De Volkskrant)
Aischylos' texts are delivered by the actors in an utterly phlegmatic tone, as if in a casual conversation. This
renders Prometheus' lamenting bearable. Not only Prometheus was captivated, I was so too. And how!
(De Gelderlander)


deuce based on a quarreling pair by jane bowles (1986)



cast: catherine ten bruggencate, ria eimers
a toneelschuur production

What tennis players and actors (m/f) ought to have in common is the concentration, the alertness to one
another's movements and attitudes in order to fathom the other's psyche. In the performance that I have
attended, the concentration was almost complete. This was stage acting like it ought to be, intense and yet
relaxed, bound to tackle the other yet lovingly. The mutual bonding that opponents feel in a sport like tennis,
likewise characterizes superb acting, that is to say taking risks. In this way, the sisterly quarrel by the
exquisite Jane Bowles can become a metaphor for people, at any rate for women, who belong together
despite all disparity. This Deuce is a lovely ladies singles. (NRC Handelsblad)
Under the direction of Annette Apon, every movement, jump and slip has been meticulously planned out.
What makes Deuce amusing, is that the players still know how to surprise one another within those
established lines. A weird little jump by Eimers, an unexpected kick from Ten Bruggencate, it not only
amuses the spectator but also puts the opposite player briefly off balance. And so it yet again turns into a
genuine contest, now in stage acting. What I particularly like about Deuce, is the playfulness of the
endeavour. Ten Bruggencate, the distinguished star from Persona and Publiekstheater, seems to be freed
from a straightjacket and visibly relishes it. I would like to see more ambitious productions made with this
mentality. (De Volkskrant)

more tennis


het jaagt door de dagmarkt
(dashing across the supermarket) by hubert fermin (1984)

cast: hubert fermin
a toneelschuur production

I am struck by Fermin's capacity to achieve so much depth and astonishing associations with very commonplace
words and sentences. Fermin does not enact the man, but depicts him. His hands and face reveal that he
constantly contemplates everything he does, as if he thinks it up right there and then, and senses it that way.
Quite suggestively, the placid presentation still acquires an impression of enforced haste, through the water
dripping from the tail end of a garden hose, that winding along reels and props encloses the stage.
(Utrechts Nieuwsblad)
The show takes some forty glasses to be filled with the water, and it is unusually poetic. A tension that is expressed
solely through a knowing use of the language. Annette Apon has directed Hubert Fermin in his stage poem.
They must have understood one another very well, because while the show seems difficult to access, it still
captivates all throughout those forty glasses. (Haarlems Dagblad)


footfalls, ohio impromptu and rockeby, 3 plays by samuel beckett (1983)



cast: annet kouwenhoven, titus muizelaar, truus te selle
maatschappij discordia

Three superb examples of evocative playing with language, consciously against our linguistic habituation, which
makes the language highly pointed-pictorial and makes perceptible more precise experiences, that would dissolve
in a lot of words. The same pointed prudence characterizes the acting under the admirable direction of Annette Apon,
who obviously knows from her experience in film directing how articulate the acting can be precisely when using very
little - and in which the actors are well up as well. (Trouw)
With subtle, somewhat frivolous accentuations, that never incite low instinctive reactions, Discordia explores
theatrical limits. They create an own variant of the by now tedious Brechtian alienation. (De Volkskrant)
Maatschappij Discordia offers with these three plays another magnificent contribution to the stage. The tension
contained in them derives from the text as much as from the form, the way Annette Apon (most notably known as
the director of films like The Waves and Giovanni) has directed them. She does understand Beckett, but has also a
highly artistic and aesthetic command of the vulnerable medium of the theatre. Form and matter meet in a virtually
perfect synthesis. (Haarlems Nieuwsblad)