Premiere: 23 December 2023, Theater Kikker in Utrecht
Utrecht - After the success of 'Ik zeg toch Sorry' (selected for the Dutch Theatre Festival), Aluin will present a zeitgeist comedy this Christmas. In Theatre Group Aluin's new show This is Ours, the deeds of J.P. Coen and all his influences are denounced again, anno 2023. This performance takes a critical look at the legacy of J.P. Coen, a historical figure that evokes both admiration and condemnation.
Reinout Bussemaker is known from various television (The 12 of Oldenheim, The Prey, Disaster Flight) and theatre roles. Bussemaker takes on the role of J.P. Coen, a very illustrious figure from the history of the V.O.C. Not everyone's name immediately rings a bell, but everyone knows the Coen tunnel. There are also seven J.P. Coenstraten in the Netherlands, two J.P. Coenlanen, one J.P. Coenhof, nine J.P. Coen schools, a J.P. Coen scouting group, a J.P. Coenholding, a Coenhaven, two Coen tunnels and a prominent statue in Hoorn. But who was this historical figure from the 17th century?
About the show
This is ours is a hilarious and harrowing confrontation with a controversial ancestor and the beginning of a series of dark pages in our history. Activist Just asks herself the question; how did a small country like the Netherlands become so prosperous? She takes matters into her own hands and travels to the 17th century to meet Jan Pieterszoon Coen. Just challenges J.P. Coen to justify himself and his actions in the 21st century. Coen must fend for himself in a world that has come to think differently about resources, property, profits and human rights. Does J.P. Coen know how to hold his own in today's cancel society?
Theatre group Alum knows how to turn this sweeping subject matter into a zeitgeist comedy. With this brand new text, they make the audience look into the mirror of the past: Should you see it in its time? Or is that the biggest doodle imaginable?
About Alum
Theatre group Aluin has been making clear and concrete text theatre about primal stories for more than 32 years. Their most recent performance Ik zeg toch sorry was selected for the Dutch Theatre Festival. About the text by writer Erik Snel, the jury wrote: "There is a lot of room in the text for the sharp bitterness of the wrongs of our colonial past."
CREDITS
Text: Erik Snel, Direction: Victorine Plante, Play: Reinout Bussemaker, Susannah El Mecky, Monica Hofman, Aron Schaap
Composition: Willem Friede, Lighting design: Charlie Feld, Set design: Marcel Dolman, Costume design: Anouk van Schie, Poster image: Miek Uittenhout, Graphic design: hollandse masters
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