Brideshead Revisited

De Warme Winkel

This masterpiece had a cult status among both queers and conservatives in the previous century, but nowadays, this novel seems to have been consigned to oblivion. Yet, perhaps, it remains the most romantic and Anglophile book literature has ever produced. After the success of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, De Warme Winkel brings another English literary classic to the theatre. Florian Myjer, together with Abke Haring, thrusts Brideshead Revisited into the 21st century.

Run time 90 minutes
Genre Theatre
Language Dutch

Brideshead Revisited

The secretively autobiographical Brideshead Revisited (1945) by Evelyn Waugh tells the story of Charles Ryder, who, as a young student at Oxford in the early 20th Century, falls under the spell of the aristocratic Flyte family. One sultry summer long, he basks in their opulent life at the heavenly family country estate, where he falls in love with both the son Sebastian and daughter Julia Flyte. Yet, with the end of summer and the rise of fascism, adulthood also presents itself. No matter how much Charles would like it to, the freedom of those golden August days is not coming back. What had appeared to be the prelude to a radically honest and free-spirited life transpires to be the eve of a desperate and cynical existence.
-|-
Trapped in a bitter worldview himself, for Evelyn Waugh writing this novel was an attempt to recover the happiness of his younger years. Inspired by this soul-searching, De Warme Winkel exploits Brideshead Revisited as a vehicle for an autopsy of love and an unfolding of our (sexual) identity. With live music composed by Rik Elstgeest and the memories and fantasies of Florian and Abke as the beating heart, they finally resuscitate the epic love story Waugh so longed for.

Brideshead Revisited premiered at the Holland Festival in June 2023, playing to sold-out audiences for a month in the main hall of theatre hub De Sloot. Due to popular demand, the show is now embarking on a tour across the Netherlands and Belgium.

REVIEWS

NRC

“A thrilling dialogue about love.”

de Volkskrant

“Brideshead Revisited emerges as a generous and highly vulnerable portrait of two individuals who constantly navigate between shame and hope.”

Theaterkrant

“In a heart-wrenching manner, the theater maker vividly renders the lasting, toxic impact of (internalized) homophobia.”

Trouw

“And then the performance suddenly ends, still with a remarkable conclusion, but without fulfilling the expectations that were raised. The longing remains, and as you walk out, you realize that it perfectly aligns with the essence of the performance.”

Parool

“Witty and vulnerable dialogues about sensuality and (queer) identity.”

The New York Times

“While ‘Brideshead Revisited’ is certainly no Waugh adaptation, Myjer and Haring have taken a literary classic and riffed on it freely, in a warm, vulnerable way. The Holland Festival may have been intended to bring the world to Dutch stages, but it’s good to see some Dutch artists join the party and claim the spotlight, too.”⁠

Credits

concept, text and cast Florian Myjer and Abke Haring
artistic advice and final directions Ward Weemhoff
scenography Scott Robin Jun
composition and sound design Rik Elstgeest
harpist Liesbeth Vreeburg
costumes Daphne de Winkel
-|-
campaign photography Lonneke van der Palen
scene photography Sofie Knijff
co-production Holland Festival
co-production large venue adaptation Toneelhuis
with support of Ammodo