Theatre

For several theatre companies I’ve composed music.

Doorbraak by Loes Hegger

It is 2050, North- and Southpole have been melted down. The Netherlands being overflowed. All of the Lowlands? No! A tiny piece of land still sticks its nose out above the water. An empty piece of land? No! Two remaining Dutch citizens, a massive black lady and a tiny, white dike-reeve, try to survive.
A world of difference on a small piece of land populated by common and hilaric misunderstandings.

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BB&B by BonteHond

BB&B (Villains, Citizens and tickets) is physical theatre about the daily misunderstandings on the street. Ordinary citizens in an ordinary neighbourhood land in absurd situations: What is the difference between meaningful- and meaningless violence? Who is the yellowbelly and where is this chase with wailing sirens going? In the meantime the police try to handle order on the street dealing with pickpockets, minor villains and misunderstandings whilst giving out tickets.
Director Loes Hegger pictures a world in which people are confronted with their own anxieties and disabilities and yet try to survive happily and brave. A hilarious story about the longing for safety and order in these dangerous days.

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Verhuizen by Lucida Stilla Roris

Do we take this plant with us, or what?
Mind the step!
Wait, shall I take it?
No, we will not take this plant.
Can’t you see that I am busy?
The couch doesn’t fit through the door!
Get the hell out of here! Do you have everything?
You just have to look where it is, then you will find it right away.
No! Well allright then, we will take the plant...

Saying goodbye and leaving.
Empty rooms, full boxes
Letting go the hand of the trusted house.

Making the emptiness a place to live in, rearranging over and over.
Getting used to the new view out of the window.
Starting anew and than again not.

Two brothers and their nephew move into a new house.
Removal company "Blok" gives a helping hand under their motto: “We come, when you go”

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De Nationale Verhuisdag by Stichting Fabulant

De Nationale Verhuisdag (The national day of moving) is an audiovisual family play for everybody from six years of age. It is a neighbourhood comedy in one act with "live" and filmed actors.

The story:
It is February the 29th, the National Day of Moving, everybody in Holland moves one house to the right. Everything is running smoothly until an old lady refuses to move.

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Maanwicht by Stichting Fabulant

Maanwicht (Moonchild) is a theatre play of half an hour with a “live” actor, a radio play actor and an actor on film. This theatre play was performed every day during the summer of 2000 at the Space Expo in Noordwijk.
The story is about the seven year old girl Loena, who’s parents are annoyed that she didn’t manage to become the first girl on the moon. Now they have sent her again, but this time accompanied by her goldfish “Bluppie”. He must become the first goldfish on the moon!

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Selfesonne? by De La Mar Puppet Theatre The Hague

Home alone? A child can suddenly be overtaken by self imagined fear.
In this production this is the main issue which is being treated in a humorous way
When the players are too afraid to go on, the audience encourages them to go on.

The story
A boy is ill. but granddad, his best friend, is ill too and mummy has to go to the drugstore for him. The fear of being alone develops into a monster that wants to eat little children. The love of granddad helps the boy to conquer the monster

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Bas Barotti by Stichting Buffo

Olaf is cleaning the floor of his theatre while singing a duet with his vacuum cleaner.
Opera is “hot” and that’s why he has asked Bas Barotti to sing here tonight.
The famous opera singer appears to be an intolerant, arrogant prig who refuses to work with women. One of his favourite songs is “To hell with women”.
This causes a major problem for Olaf, since he only has a female piano player as employee.
Together they decide to teach Barotti a lesson.

On the music preview you hear Barotti singing a duet with his mother (his alter ego)

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X-Sample by 3 Steunpunten Kunstzinnige Vorming

X-Sample was a project built around the group X-Sample (Stijn en Marleen van der Loo) and was meant for class 6,7 and 8 of the primary school, originality being the central theme.
The material for the lessons was supported by radio plays,school concerts and a final concert in collaboration with the jazz orchestra I Company under the direction of Bo van de Graaf. This concert took place in De Flint in Amersfoort..

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Tassen by Theaterplatform Utrecht

Janna and Jozefien are about sixty. They have choosen to live the life of beggars and together with their load of plastic bags they live in the porch of Iwan.
Together with his friend Wanka, Iwan is trying to get them out of there.
Iwan: "What do you want with those filthy bags?"
But "Tassen" is all about the contents of these bags.
In these bags the precious memories of Janna and Jozefien, who have known each other since their childhood, are hidden. They let the boys have a look in these bags, and therefore into their memories.They find themselves back for instance in a ferris wheel at a fair before the war and some minutes later they land in a cinema, where flirting is more important then looking at the western on the screen.
When Iwan relives the memories of the beggars, he dares to reveal something of his own past too.

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Nijntje gaat logeren by Theaterplatform Utrecht

Nijntje gaat logeren (Miffy goes to stay) was made in close collaboration with the draughtsman Dick Bruna.
The design is based on the unique style of Bruna, in which simple forms, primary colours and a graphic approach are characteristic. The music and the libretto of this opera for children are based on sounds and onomatopoeia of sounds that surround children.

The story
Miffy goes to stay with aunt Poppy Pig, who takes good care of her guest.
But it is too much for Miffy. Everything is so strange, Poppy Pig talks so loudly, and her cakes are just too big. No wonder that Miffy, lying in her bed all alone, feels homesick.
When Miffy discovers that Poppy Pig is not that grown up and brave all the time and that even she sometimes feels sad, Miffy learns to understand her better.

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De koningin van hiernaast by Theaterplatform Utrecht

"De koningin van hiernaast" (The queen next door) was a musical family play and performed during Christmas holidays.
The parts were played by a mixture of professional and amateur (young) actors.

The story
"De koningin van hiernaast" is about a queen who, walks the thin line of her responsibilities as a queen and her own ambitions. The script consisted of short, loose scenes, situated in different locations of the court and the ordinary people, which influenced each other. Think about big issues such as "paying taxes".

The music was entirely made with the EPS workstation of Ensoniq and partly performed live

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Horen, zien en zwijgen by Theaterplatform Utrecht

Horen, zien en zwijgen was a musical Christmas play which was played and sung by children and adults. It was performed at the Blaauwe Zaal in Utrecht from 23-12-1985 till 4-1-1986.

The story:
Eleven years old Lisa is attending the singing-school of Mrs. Vespucci. Lisa can sing very well and her parents only have one goal in mind: "Lisa must become famous"
But Lisa does not feel at ease at this institute. She notices that Mrs. Vespucci is after something else other than teaching the children how to sing. Nobody listens to Lisa, she stands alone. When her parents too let her down on the yearly "Il Concerto", she has had it. From now on she refuses to speak. She sticks to this for seven years until her friend Jelle seems to walk into the trap of Mrs. Vespucci.

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Kippevel (Chicken skin) was my second commission from Theater Sirkel.
The recordings were made in the studio of Frans Bronzwaer in Heerlen.
It was recorded on an 8 channel 1 inch taperecorer of unknown origin.
The instruments I used were almost the same as with "Ik kan er zo niet bij" my earlier work for Theater Sirkel; Minimoog, Solina stringensemble, acoustic piano and........cello
played by Ad van Dongen, who later became the first cellist of "Het Nederlands Ballet Orkest"( The Dutch Ballet Orchestra)
The music of "Kippevel"was also used for "Adem" an adaption of Kippevel for youngsters.

The story
On the set there is a huge white construction
Behind curtains we hear music.
Things can happen everywhere.
Suddenly "Bonk"appears:"I will never do that again, playing, playing with a girl.
Quarrel, quarrel, and for what? For nothing!".
Spriet:"Nothing, you call that nothing?".
At the top of the construction, 14 feet high, stands the grinning man with the top-hat

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This was the first commission I was payed for. I had a so called no play/no pay deal. That meant that I received 25 guilders (12 euro nowadays) for each performance. Luckily it was performed a lot.
The instruments I used were the Minimoog, a solina string ensemble (which is the same instrument as the ARP string ensemble) and a Ibach grand piano.
Since I had no multitrack possibilities in those days, I recorded the music on a Revox A77-15 inch full track tape recorder using the Sound-on-Sound possibility.

The story
Boy meets girl in a forest, shy, angry, freightened, they fall in love.
They go on a journey in a gigantic bird. Adventures in the sea, a shark, the desert, a sand storm, high upon a mountain, freezing.
Finally they reach the land where everyone does what he/she likes, the kiss hand man, the eager beaver, the laughing lady, everybody, except the creepy little man............