Sometimes, people are so angry politically that they furiously turn down the chance to become the country's boss themselves upon hearing the word 'prime minister'. Oscar Kocken, the cheerful host and creator, together with Daan Windhorst, of 'Het Torentje' noticed this last Friday. He was trying to warm up a passer-by to his performance, in a tent on the Paradeplein in Den Bosch. She didn't hear out his line, about 'what she wanted with the future of the Netherlands and that as prime minister...', but at that last word started ranting about pickpockets and extortionists and walked on, heading for something less political on this summer Friday evening.
While Het Torentje is so much fun. Borgen in its Dutch and live, like a played video game, where a viewer in the role of prime minister can steer the story in all directions. The writers, prodded by their work on the live talk show Order of the Day, have written four hundred pages of short scenes in advance. Each scene can be triggered by the previous, and the ever-changing choices made by the premier of that one performance. So every half-hour there is a totally different performance to be made, and there is.
Crazy
It makes for wacky situations, and the enjoyment of the makers is contagious: the audience fully shares in the surprises and can also think about something political here and there. That one angry passer-by had had the half-hour of her life. It is to be hoped that next time Kocken is more successful in recruiting, and saves the word 'politics' and 'prime minister' until the very last.
The Turret is actually a form of live television cabaret, which is why the sound does not interfere. But that is not true of all 'tent theatre performances' in Den Bosch. Because the square is full of music and people, all performers in those tiny theatres made of tent cloth nowadays use transmitter microphones. However, those worm-shaped appendages, half masked away on the cheeks, have unpleasant side effects. Sure, they ensure intelligibility for everyone, but they also disconnect the voice from the speaker and attach it to the speakers. In such an intimate setting, that really kills the experience.
Wall of Sound
I experienced this at two more traditionally staged solo cabaret performances: 'No Performance' and 'Ointment'. In 'No Performance', actress Suzanne van der Horst makes a valiant attempt at intimacy in the little tent between the chip shop (organic and tasty) and toilets (this year decorated as a gallery), which unfortunately gets off to a somewhat slow start. Perhaps due to the excitement of the premiere night, she sets her pace, but especially her own voice volume, high. As a result, as a spectator, you sit a metre away from a rumbling 'wall of sound'. This makes listening and watching tiresome, while the story and the format of Van der Horst's programme are indeed moving. In any case, I will never be able to watch Clint Eastwood again without her description in the back of my mind.
Great talent
On a slightly different note, the volume at Kirsten van Teijn's Ointment also starts to irritate. Van Teijn is a still very young cabaret performer of an old stamp. Her bouche is educated and pure, her diction with all the r's and g's perfect and hair présence overwhelming. Here is not only a great talent, but also a future player of Carré playing in a small tent. And so that also falters a little. The short programme, an excerpt from the show with which she will perform in the larger theatres later this year, has perhaps not yet sunk in enough. As a result, there is more distance than is good for playing half a metre from your audience.
It could all be a bit less hurried, a bit softer, a bit quieter: it's no less fun. And with that voice of hers, she can also silence that whole square in Bossche without that damned broadcasting microphone.
Just do it once.
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