Tue 03 Mar
Anne Claire de Breij
Anne Claire de Breij
" I just want to play Marie Antoinette for once." That's what creator and performer Manoushka Zeegelaar Breeveld said to director Belle van Heerikhuizen, who had always wanted to make a play about the infamous 18th-century French queen. And on 3 March, the time will have come. Orkater's new production, Moeder van Europa, will be performed in the theatre.
Marie Antoinette is Manoushka uiteindelijk niet geworden, regisseur Belle van Heerikhuizen had namelijk een ander plan voor haar. “Belle zei vrij snel tegen mij dat juist ook de moeder van Marie-Antoinette een heel leuk personage zou zijn. Maria Theresia was keizerin van Oostenrijk, koningin van Bohemen én Hongarije. Haar kroost van 16 verdeelt ze overal in Europa als schaakstukken over een bord. Met haar kinderen als vorst zou haar rijk niet aangevallen worden, zo dacht zij. Daarmee stichtte zij eigenlijk als eerste één Europa.”
Isaac Owusu
De voorstelling speelt zich af aan de vooravond van de Franse Revolutie, het moment waarop de democratie eigenlijk op het punt staat de overhand te nemen. Manoushka verklapt alvast: “Het gaat over de positie van de vrouw, over kleur, over het verval van de democratie, maar het is ook een viering van het feit dat we daar een voorstelling over kunnen maken. Dat we dit kunnen doen. Dat we de vrijheid hebben om dat te doen. En het plezier dat we eraan beleven om van de geschiedenis weer een verhaal van ons allemaal te maken.”
The performance promises to be a mash-up of language and music. The texts will be both historical and poetic, as well as contemporary and accessible. Manoushka: ‘I see the performance itself as a wave movement of curtains, costumes, music and text. Retreating, rising, curling, surfing or drowning, washing ashore, foaming, and repeating, just as history moves.’
In addition, according to Manoushka, the performance will be festive. The use of impressive costumes that fit well into the overall picture of the 18th century gives the whole a cheerful feel. This is despite the fact that the performance addresses serious themes and that the period it depicts is anything but cheerful.
Anne Claire de Breij
Maker Marga Weimans over kostuumontwerp
The story is told with a cast of people of colour. Manoushka: ‘It shows that they too are part of European history.’ In the performance, you get to know two historical figures of colour.
Angola was a man born in what is now Nigeria, given to Europe as a child and who grew up to become a scholar at the Viennese court. Although he gained prestige during his lifetime, he was dehumanised after his death by being stuffed and put on display. And Joseph Bologne “Chevalier” de Saint-George, born in Guadeloupe to a French father and an enslaved mother. He was both athletically and musically gifted and is also known as the Black Mozart.
Photo: temporary rehearsal costumes
Isaac Owusu
“By claiming this history as our own, we tell an emancipatory story for everyone, one that is relevant to our times, in Europe and in the Netherlands.”
Director Belle van Heerikhuizen adds a quote from the performance: ‘Stories are our only weapon to resist the approaching storm. We need truth and stories to anchor us. Otherwise, you are at the mercy of the times you live in, and those times determine what happens to you.’
Photo: temporary rehearsal costumes
Isaac Owusu
Tue 03 Mar
Anne Claire de Breij