4 old cows in eternal Amsterdam theatre war cause Daamens oekaze?

How can a usually very ordinary, amiable theatre director suddenly come out with the notice That a few orchestras can go away and the National Ballet should be outsourced? We wondered so and headed to the car park at the Concertgebouw yesterday. Because the Concertgebouw was hosting a get-together due to the celebration of a new mark list, and where there are drinks, there are loose lips. Especially in car parks. And there, amid all the pulmonary emphysema complaints, we heard some news: Melle Daamen was so cornered in his daily work that he seized on the Culture Council's procrastination to go wild. Because a lot of old cows had to die.

Old Cow 1: Theu Boermans' Theatre Amsterdam.

Very nice, of course, that the man behind the success of Soldier of Orange is going to repeat his trick with Anne Frank. Less fun for an Amsterdam theatre director is that Theu Boermans is not going to repeat that trick in a Katwijk hangar, but in the middle of Amsterdam. Even worse, the man who, with his mega-musical hit that has been sold out for years, is the entire Dutch musical industry killed, calling his theatre 'Theater Amsterdam'.

We need to explain that one. It has everything to do with the message we brought earlier about the battle around the  name change of The Netherlands Opera. Which made us completely forget that other power struggle from the 1990s. Because at that time, a successor was being sought for the leader of Toneelgroep Amsterdam, the player of the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam. That position was meant for - come on - Theu Boermans, who also wanted to become director of the Schouwburg at the same time, and that is the job Melle Daamen now has.

Enfin.

The classic tragedy is approaching its third act. Theu was passed over in favour of Ivo van Hove, and after a few wanderings, Theu arrived at his place as boss of that National Theatre, already established out of revenge. Because here is his victory: Theu returns to Amsterdam and opens Theater Amsterdam where Toneelgroep Amsterdam so does not play, but the Nationale Toneel is involved. And so Toneelgroep Amsterdam is in a building on Leidseplein that is unspeakable to tourists. Stadtssgggowburggg?!

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Old Cow 2: Joop van den Ende has a better restaurant

We reported earlier that Daamen had a manager sought who could turn his restaurant Stanislavski, of which the Theatre is one of the back rooms, into something hip again. This is necessary because the restaurant has some catching up to do, not only in terms of location (right in the middle of the theatre's entrance), but also in terms of cuisine (too salty) and in terms of service (not designed for theatre audiences). Opposite the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg is the Delamartheater, where there are queues every day right past the entrance to the Stadsschouwburg. And those queues are not only for the star-studded performance in Joop van den Endes' art palace, they also come for the food in the restaurant there. Which is at star level. With which Joop van den Ende, himself never entirely averse to rancour, is giving a big middle finger to that elitist building opposite.

Old Cow 3: Royal Theatre Carré is fishing in Daamen's pond

Our coughing linkedin contact in the Concertgebouw car park gave us the latest nail in Melle Daamen's coffin: Royal Theatre Carré is rising from the ashes of the near bankruptcy it had fallen into after ramshackle programming over the last 10 years. Indeed, Ronald Klamer has just flown in there, a veteran of the job carousel that is, of course, Dutch theatre.

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Klamer led Het Toneel Speelt, founded by Hans Croiset (founder of Theu Boermans' Nationale Toneel), for many years and is a true theatre man, who also appears to have a heart for opera and circus. We learned of grand plans for the pearl on the Amstel. Plans that may well be at the expense of what Melle Daamen has been offering in his building so far. Prestigious offerings, too. Which is now moving to that building with those bad sightlines.

Old cow 4: Toneelgroep Amsterdam runs out of steam.

So the Stadsschouwburg is in a bit of a pickle, because it is of course questionable whether that building will survive on the efforts of Toneelgroep Amsterdam alone. After all, its director, Ivo van Hove, is rapidly burning out his star actors in a murderous schedule of foreign tours, successful revivals and cool experiments in venues other than the Stadsschouwburg. Like Frascati, conveniently located near the future Rokin metro station. So how long Toneelgroep Amsterdam will continue to be called Toneelgroep Amsterdam remains to be seen.

Then you start shouting.

Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam is rapidly becoming marginalised and the only way to counter this is to make a big fuss. Because it's not Daamen himself, but the sector, made up of people who don't let each other see the light in the eyes. And who then let politicians make some sharp choices. As a total surprise.

The roots of the angular and coddling disputes around Leidseplein run deep and are intractable. The question is whether Melle Daamen will win that underground battle. The car park was silent on that. Except for some roaring coughs.