The general public knows her as the rock-hard lawyer Claire from Gooise Vrouwen. Tone lovers have known her longer as that actress with the striking voice. A diplomat's daughter, born in Africa, later raised in Bussum. Tjitske Reidinga now dares to come forward: 'I'm just a cocksucker. I've been trying to deny that for a long time, but I just have to admit it. I'm a cocksucker.'
This summer, Tjitske Reidinga plays the lead role in 'The Memory of Water', the Amsterdam Delamartheatre's first summer production. We were there when the plan was presented, and took a camera with us.
For the Performing arts trade magazine TM Wijbrand Schaap interviewed Reidinga following her nomination for one of the bigger theatre awards. You can read that interview here:
She can put herself in perspective like the best of them. The fact that she has now joined the class of BN-ers does not bother her much. Stardom was never her goal:
'Well no. Stardom that when I was little was something for people like Mary Dresselhuys or Ellen Vogel. I'm not so into that.'
For her, acting was natural.
'My first memory is of being on stage in primary school in a red catsuit. There was never a conscious moment when I thought: I should be on stage. It was just like that. That's quite a great luxury. Now that I have children of my own, I sometimes think: what a gift it is to know so early what you want to do. Later, I did feel a kind of anxiety. There were moments when I thought: what if it doesn't work out or something. But I wasn't very ambitious either. I still am not. I'm glad it worked out somewhat, though, otherwise I really wouldn't have known what to do.'
Also, did you already know what kind of stage you wanted to make?
'No idea. I didn't grow up with theatre at all. My parents were certainly cultural but the first few years of my life we lived in Africa and there wasn't really any subsidised theatre there. The first play I saw was only when I was at school. My parents were much more into music and opera. And in books. Drama came entirely from me.'
After school, you played in some smaller, marginal performances. At the ro theatre, at the Toneelschuur. Your CV also includes a Hedda Gabler. Do you specifically look for those kinds of extremes, to remain versatile?
'Not at all. That may sound boring, but no. I was always surprised when people asked me for roles.'
The characters you play always have something very convincing and powerful in their comic earthiness, though. Honey in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf was one of the most powerful renditions I saw of that pouty role.
'I do have a soft spot for that kind of role. I like playing the outsider. That has always been the case. I've also always been best in supporting roles. You just have to let me do a bit. In those supporting roles, you are not in the spotlight, so then you can fiddle a bit on the side. That's when I come into my own best. A Hedda Gabler like that... I'd love to do it again, such a big role, but it wasn't really the right time for me then. It may sound a bit strange coming from an actress, but I prefer to be left alone a bit when I'm rehearsing. I really like not having to be in the middle.'
So then the Colombina is a just prize.
'No way. I don't think it's justified at all, and I have to tell you honestly: I don't have much with awards either. I really enjoy this and feel very honoured, but I'm not at all preoccupied with it when I start a role. Acting is not a delivery for me either. Some actresses you see really suffer and search and struggle with some kind of personal mission. I don't have all that. Not even with a role like this. That Ivy in August Oklahoma, or Honey: if you let me go a bit it generally works out.'
How do you get that easy attitude?
'I am not an intellectual woman. I am an odd duck. A bit of a working-class woman. I follow my intuition. So I've also always found it difficult to talk about acting. I'm too down-to-earth for that. You shouldn't make it more important than it is. In fact, you just stand there with a nice outfit again and lie very well. I used to get very insecure when I heard what other people had to say about acting. I remember at drama school in the first class I had to tell people why I wanted to play. We all sat around a table and had to take turns telling. It was my turn last, and it was all very long stories about why people should play, and what they wanted to achieve with it and what they loved about drama. And I remember thinking: how bad. I can't get beyond the fact that I just think acting is the most fun there is. Oh, how silly I am.'
But one day you will have to go deep. Says one. Does that worry you?
'Of course I worry about that. At some point, everyone knows, right? Then they say: here comes that woman with the drawling voice again. Of course I think about that sometimes. But on the other hand, the older I get, I think: I'm still there.'
Are you consciously dealing with the roles you take on now?
'It should be more, but the reality is also just that I have three boys to raise. There has to be bread on the table. But now I'm kind of at a stage where I have a big finger in the pie over my career.'
'For the next season, I have cancelled things. For the first time in my life, I'm not going to play a stage for the whole next year. A role came up that offered me nothing new, and I said no to that. I do think it's a real shame. But fortunately, it does allow me to work with Rieks Swarte again the following year. I allow myself that. Lately, of course, I have mainly been doing great theatre with real actresses and big plays. I felt a kind of need to go back to my roots. That's that Toneelschuur work after all. The middle theatres. After all, I'm kind of an in-between-art-and-kitsch actress. I'm not into the whole commercial thing, but I'm not into the whole intellectual thing either. I would love to do repertoire things: Chekhov's and what they do at Toneelgroep Amsterdam. But I'm not stuck with any company.'
If Ivo van Hove offered you a permanent contract, would you say yes?
'A permanent contract? I'm not sure about that yet. But I would really like to work with as many different people as possible. I also like being challenged and seeing what that person would get out of me. So I would definitely consider it. But that's not going to happen at all, yep. I did think for a while: shall I write a letter myself. Because when Jacob, my youngest, had just been born, I gave a lot of thought to what I liked. And how I envisaged it. Then I thought about it, but it's not going to happen.
Why not?
'They are already sitting there with a lot of actresses. It's as simple as that. They have to keep them all working already. But that idea of the letter also came to me because they are going to do a play that I had really wanted to do: 'Cat on a hot tin roof'. So I thought: for the first time in my life, shall I just write a letter and ask: should this and that actress get pregnant, or suddenly start living with the Indians in Nepal, can I play it? But I didn't. Which is actually a bit stupid, because I actually think you should always try everything.'
Tennessee Williams is right up your alley.
'I agree, but Tennessee Williams is very often with the regular companies. I run into that more and more: That there are beautiful pieces, but at the regular companies, and that's not where I sit. I think that's a shame, to be honest.'
What was that role you refused?
'I was originally supposed to play Lady Macbeth opposite Mark Rietman. That was then cancelled because Toneelgroep Amsterdam is already doing it. Then they came up with another play and I thought: I don't really feel like doing that. So then I came up with this Tennessee Williams idea, which Toneelgroep Amsterdam is already doing. Then I was a bit lost. Thank you very much, Toneelgroep Amsterdam. I sooo wanted to play Lady Macbeth. But that will just stay on my list.'
The Memory of Water plays from 17 June 2012 at the Delamar Theatre
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français 
