{"id":100317,"date":"2026-01-14T10:53:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T09:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/?p=100317"},"modified":"2026-01-14T10:54:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T09:54:28","slug":"theatermaker-en-actrice-annemarie-prins-overleden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/01\/theatermaker-en-actrice-annemarie-prins-overleden\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre maker and actress Annemarie Prins died"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Annemarie Prins died on 13 January 2026, at home in Amsterdam, at the age of 93. From the early 1960s, she was an idiosyncratic and innovative voice in Dutch theatre as a director. The general public knew her mainly as an actress in TV series. She played Aunt Maud in <\/strong><em><strong>Old Money<\/strong><\/em><strong>, the old Annie in <\/strong><em><strong>Annie M.G.<\/strong><\/em><strong> and Ms Slothouwer in <\/strong><em><strong>The secret diary of Hendrik Groen<\/strong><\/em><strong>. But she could also be seen on stage until recently. As recently as 2024, she toured the country with her enthusiastically received solo performance <\/strong><em><strong>About the mountains.<\/strong><\/em><strong> \u2018My last one,\u2019 she knew.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prins graduated from the Arnhem School of Drama in 1961, but quit as an actress after only a few years. Because of stage fright, but also dissatisfaction with the productions she acted in, she became a director. That profession, for which there was no training yet, she learned at the Leiden student theatre and in Poland, where there was a livelier, more political theatre culture. Once back, she founded her own group in 1965, Theater Terzijde, the first political theatre company in the Netherlands, where, besides actors, she brought in visual artists and musicians. She was looking for a way of working that could create a different relationship between makers among themselves and between makers and spectators. She wanted to create pieces that questioned social reality without sacrificing poetry. Even then, she was well aware of her own privileged position and, in that light, asked herself from what perspective a story should be told.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The opening performance <em>A Lorca case is not known to us<\/em> dealt with the murder of poet Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca at the beginning of the Spanish civil war. A reviewer who questioned whether it was the role of theatre to \u2018enlighten the spectator about the world in which he lives\u2019, as Theatre Terzijde set out to do, had to give in to the \u2018exquisite moments of drama\u2019 and \u2018all the youthful freshness and ingenuity\u2019 of the direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the late 1960s, Prins broadened her scope to radio, television and opera. For DNO, she made <em>Monkey defeats the Knekelgeest <\/em>(1980) and <em>Houdini<\/em> (1981) by Peter Schat. She also directed high-profile plays with the Groningen amateur company Waark. The eponymous first play made it to the Holland Festival production, despite its amateur status. Meanwhile, as a single mother, she raised two children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1985, she was at the cradle of a theatre group again. Together with Edwin de Vries and Henk van der Meulen, she founded De Salon. Here, she broke new ground with a trilogy based on the work of Samuel Beckett. Especially working with his prose led to a different approach to text than before, in which musicality weighed as much as the meaning of the words. When she started playing herself again in the mid-1990s, she worked on this in unforgettable autobiographical (semi)monologues: <em>Harmony Court<\/em>, <em>Peckish waltz<\/em>, <em>Old and White<\/em>, <em>Death and so on<\/em> and finally <em>About the mountains<\/em>. In the process, language remained a great love. She learned her texts with great precision and perseverance, \u2018so that I can juggle with them\u2019. At her last performance, she started rehearsals months before they started, for fear of not getting the text in her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years, as a teacher and through the amateur performances she made, Annemarie Prins helped countless creators and players along the way. \u2018That one still started with me,\u2019 she often said when a younger colleague came up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the intersection between directing and teaching, her work also took place in Cambodia, where she stayed regularly between 2005 and 2012. With Cambodian actresses, she made two performances and a radio play about their experiences during the bloody Khmer Rouge dictatorship. One of those performances also travelled to Rwanda, where the processing of the violent past had already taken further shape. Rwandan actors complemented the cast. The shared trauma of genocide proved able to bridge cultural differences. The questions these projects raised for Prins about her own neocolonial position underpinned the performance <em>Old and White <\/em>(2015).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prince hated sentimentality, especially her own. She was radical, always looking for the core. Radically looking for what theatre was all about for her. Radically honest, for instance in her feedback to actors and students. Radically shameless when a role called for it. She saw through the impact of her old, bare body in the shower, a cigarette within reach, in <em>Annie M.G.<\/em> and pushed aside all vanity to do so. This unabashedness, in addition to her professionalism, made her a much sought-after actress into old age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She could also be radically impossible, for herself and others. Some relationships in work and private life never worked out, while others became more established. Those who took her to heart cherished her obstinacy, her sagacity, her often black humour and, finally, her sweet side, which gained more space as the years progressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Annemarie Prins died at her own request after her health deteriorated rapidly in a short period of time. The farewell will take place in a small circle.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Annemarie Prins is op 13 januari 2026, thuis in Amsterdam, op 93-jarige leeftijd overleden. Vanaf begin jaren zestig was zij als regisseur een eigenzinnige en vernieuwende stem in het Nederlandse theater. Het grote publiek kende haar vooral als actrice in tv-series. Ze speelde Tante Maud in Oud Geld, de oude Annie in Annie M.G. en [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11445,9676,11917,8843,4759],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faits-divers","category-in-memoriam","category-persberichten","category-podiumkunst","category-theater-podiumkunst-2"],"views":657,"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100279,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/01\/bij-het-overlijden-van-elsje-de-wijn-dit-was-haar-generatie\/","url_meta":{"origin":100317,"position":0},"title":"On the death of Elsje de Wijn: this was her generation","author":"Wijbrand Schaap","date":"12 January 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"'Never played the sisters myself' Last week, actress Elsje de Wijn passed away. For many Dutch theatre lovers and makers, she was a regular feature in performances on the 'smaller' theatre circuit. 21 years ago, in 2005, I spoke to Elsje de Wijn, Trudy de Jong and Els Ingeborg Smits about their careers, which were similar. From them","rel":"","context":"In &quot;FAITS DIVERS&quot;","block_context":{"text":"FAITS DIVERS","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/faits-divers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89283,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2023\/01\/de-slager-te-roelofarendsveen-zijn-ongewenste-homozoon-en-annie-m-g\/","url_meta":{"origin":100317,"position":1},"title":"The butcher in Roelofarendsveen, his unwanted gay son and Annie M.G.","author":"Peter Olsthoorn","date":"23 January 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Soms ontdek je ineens een pareltje van de cultuur, door de harde theatermarkt verbannen van de speellijsten. Zoals Wil van der Meer met zijn Franse chansonprogramma van vertaalde liedjes van Annie Schmidt. Wil van der Meer is als acteur, zanger, regisseur en docent niet het eerste garnituur, maar even zo\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;PODIUMKUNST&quot;","block_context":{"text":"PODIUMKUNST","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/podiumkunst\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wil van der Meer - foto door Peter Olsthoorn","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSC07051-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSC07051-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSC07051-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSC07051-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSC07051-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSC07051-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30265,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2016\/03\/theater-rotterdam-gaat-opnieuw-helemaal-anders\/","url_meta":{"origin":100317,"position":2},"title":"Theatre Rotterdam is going to do it all over again","author":"Wijbrand Schaap","date":"11 March 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Maandag 14 maart presenteert Theater Rotterdam zijn plannen voor de komende kunstenplanperiode. Op donderdag 10 maart vertelde Bianca van der Schoot er al over tijdens een openbare meeting met\u00a0een klas Utrechtse theaterwetenschappers. Wat duidelijk werd uit haar verhaal is dat zij weinig zin heeft om wereldrepertoire te gaan brengen met\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ACTUEEL&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ACTUEEL","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/nieuws\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15424,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2014\/04\/johan-simons-ontvangt-150-000-euro-ik-dacht-dat-moet-voor-elsie-zijn\/","url_meta":{"origin":100317,"position":3},"title":"Johan Simons receives 150,000 euros: 'I thought, that must be for Elsie'","author":"Wijbrand Schaap","date":"17 April 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This year's Prince Bernhard Culture Fund Prize goes to Johan Simons. At the announcement, in a meadow below Utrecht, the director was surprised: he suspected the prize was meant for his wife, Elsie de Brauw, widely regarded as one of the best actresses in the Netherlands and Belgium.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ACTUEEL&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ACTUEEL","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/nieuws\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8529,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2012\/09\/32e-nederlands-film-festival-opent-met-nono-en-prijzen-voor-interzone-en-willeke-van-ammelrooy\/","url_meta":{"origin":100317,"position":4},"title":"#NFF Opening film Nono sings away from dull realism","author":"Leo Bankersen","date":"27 September 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Wat een feestelijke openingsfilm was dat! De keuze van het Nederlands Filmfestival voor Nono, het zigzag kind had natuurlijk te maken met het feit dat de Nederlandse familiefilm dit jaar speciaal in de festivalschijnwerpers wordt geplaatst. Maar ook los van dat thema was het een niet te versmaden aftrap. Want\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ACTUEEL&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ACTUEEL","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/nieuws\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Nono-het-zigzag-kind-2klein-300x178.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":69801,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2021\/05\/deze-nieuwe-wet-betekent-nog-meer-hindernissen-en-beperkingen-voor-bezoek-aan-cultuur\/","url_meta":{"origin":100317,"position":5},"title":"'This new law means even more hurdles and restrictions for visiting culture.'","author":"een van onze leden","date":"10 May 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Honourable members of the House of Representatives, It is with great concern that we look at the Temporary Test Act that will be voted on in your House on Tuesday 11 May. This new law means even more hurdles and restrictions for visiting culture. Restrictions that will be introduced but whose end date is not...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ACTUEEL&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ACTUEEL","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/nieuws\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Joinstar-spuug-speeksel-test-eenvoudig-snel-betrouwbaar_ooxd-vn.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Joinstar-spuug-speeksel-test-eenvoudig-snel-betrouwbaar_ooxd-vn.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Joinstar-spuug-speeksel-test-eenvoudig-snel-betrouwbaar_ooxd-vn.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Joinstar-spuug-speeksel-test-eenvoudig-snel-betrouwbaar_ooxd-vn.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3yKke-q61","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100317"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100321,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100317\/revisions\/100321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}