Romeo and Julia
Even those who have never seen Shakespeare's most famous love drama on stage, know the story of the great love between the star crossed lovers and its fatal outcome. Romeo and Julia begins as a thrilling coming-of-age drama in which two young people fall in love in a society consumed by family feuds, shortsightedness and senseless violence. Their coming-of-age and their desperate attempt to preserve their love end in a fateful double suicide.
Genre Theater
Language Dutch, with English surtitles on Thursdays
Michiel van Erp's version of Romeo and Julia is about identity: can you be who you want to be? Who or what determines how you should feel and behave?
At the start of the performance, a group of actors choose their roles. Age, gender, color and origin are not decisive, but the deepest desire of someone to give shape to a character is. The battle between the Capulet and Montecchi families ignites in battles on the dance floor. The result is a fierce, energetic and breathless ode to love.
Michiel van Erp is the acclaimed director of, among others, the tv series Ramses (with Maarten Heijmans) and the film Niemand in de stad. In 2018 he made his debut at ITA as a stage director with Het hout.
Van Erp (1963) created more than fifty documentaries, both for television and cinema. In the 1990s, he made a name for himself with Lang leve…, a long-running series in which ordinary Dutch people were portrayed in a special way, often with much irony (which is regarded as his trademark) and full of sympathy at the same time.
He filmed portraits of famous Dutch people, such as author Connie Palmen and photographer Erwin Olaf, but also Queen Beatrix and singer Mary Servaes. He made films about the funeral of Prince Claus and the relatives of the MH17 plane crash victims. A recurring theme is (sexual) identity. In I Am a Woman Now, Van Erp portrayed five women who underwent gender reassignment surgery more than fifty years ago. When asked ‘who is the successor of Bert Haanstra?’ Haanstra’s former cameraman Kees van Hin answered: ‘Michiel van Erp’.
Credits
by William Shakespeare
director Michiel van Erp
choreography Fabien Prioville
translation Janine Brogt
scenography Studio Dennis Vanderbroeck
music & sound design George Dhauw
lighting design Julian Maiwald
costumes Bernadette Corstens
with Achraf Koutet, Aus Greidanus, Bart Slegers, Ilke Paddenburg, Joy Delima, Maarten Heijmans, Majd Mardo, Maria Kraakman, Marieke Heebink, Fjodor Jozefzoon, Harun Balci, Kharim Amier, Teun Donders, Ali Zijlstra
assistant directorOlivier Diepenhorst, Maria Luttikhuis, Eva van Kleef (intern)
assistant dramaturgy Nicole van Hoeve (stage)
assistant scenography Ramón Huijbrechts
assistant costumesEleftheria Lavdaki
assistant choreographyArt Srisayam
head of technical staff Reyer Meeter
production Michiel van Schijndel
technical producer Joost Verlinden
technical staff Stijn van der Leeuw (1e inspiciënt), Stephan Pot, Emile Bleeker, Ruud de Vos, Boy Maasakker, Michel Smouter, Chris Tijmans, Tim Vleugel and Lizet van der Heijden (intern)
hair & make-upDavid Verswijveren
costume departmentWim van Vliet (head), Farida Bouhbouh, Claudia Pellegrini
photographyDim Balsem
graphical designSerena Kloet
publicity Iris Istha, Joris van den Ring-Bax
with thanks to Suzette Anker (intern) and Boris Kip (intern)