The Laws

In The Laws, based on the novel by Connie Palmen, director Eline Arbo takes you into the story of a woman in search of herself. In the Amsterdam of the 1980s we meet the young philosophy student Marie, who longs for knowledge and a meaningful life. Over seven years we follow her through seven encounters that shape her life and her personality.

Who are you without the other?

Date: October 9, 2025 - November 23, 2025
Duration: 120 min, no interval
Genre: Theatre
Taal: Dutch

In The Laws we follow Marie's encounters with seven people who prove decisive in her young life: the astrologer, the epileptic, the philosopher, the priest, the physicist, the artist and the psychiatrist. Through these encounters she comes to know different ways of looking at humanity and personality.

We see how, in a way that causes a stir, she grows into a writer and gives meaning to her life, thanks to and in spite of these encounters.

More than 400,000 copies of Connie Palmen's debut novel The Laws were sold within the year of its publication. Now, thirty years on, it has grown into a modern classic.

Connie Palmen on The Laws

"I am a great admirer of Eline Arbo's transformative and personal work. With every production she has made of a novel, of a character from a novel or of a writer, she has shown me something I had not understood about the book myself, or had not seen in that writer. So I am handing over my novel The Laws, and myself, to her imagination in complete confidence, and I am extremely curious to see what she will show me."

Connie Palmen

Connie Palmen (1955) is one of the most celebrated Dutch writers. She made her debut in 1991 with The Laws, a coming-of-age novel about a young woman who takes on the world and ultimately finds her true calling in the solitude of writing. More than 400,000 copies were sold within a year. With her autobiographical novels De Vriendschap, I.M., Geheel de uwe, Lucifer and Jij zegt het she achieved international success and won a large readership. Her essays were collected in 2017 in Het drama van de afhankelijkheid.

Connie Palmen questions the idea that a person has a pure, self-contained 'I' with its own fixed meaning. In her view we cannot understand ourselves apart from others, and we acquire meaning only through the stories that are told about us. That brings with it a certain dependence, which she tries to fathom and explore in her work. By creating fiction she gives shape to this dependence and tries to get a grip on the way stories determine our identity.

Reviews

Trouw

'A grand and compelling stage translation of the classic.'

Theaterkrant

'Eline Arbo and the ITA Ensemble depict, with dedication and great energy, the pain of thinking that leads to isolation.'

Het Parool

'Eline Arbo adapts De wetten, Connie Palmen's debut, into an accomplished production.'

Cast

Ilke Paddenburg

Chris Nietvelt

Marieke Heebink

Thijs van Vuure

Aus Greidanus jr.

Jasper Stoop

Jip van den Dool

Krisjan Schellingerhout

Michael Muller

Director Eline Arbo

"When I first read The Laws, it was as if I were reading about my own life: the search for your own voice, for your artistry and for who you are in relation to the other. It is an unforgettable exploration of what it is to be human, perfectly balanced between the universal and the personal. I am honoured to be able to bring this absolute masterpiece by Connie Palmen to the stage."