Willem II

16 Jul '25 to 02 Aug '25

Out of Office Productions / NITE / Bostheater / ITA

This royal comedy focuses on our mysterious King Willem II (1792-1849). Was he the heroic general of the doubting monarch? The flamboyant bon vivant of the political bigot? We delve into the life of perhaps the most fascinating king the Netherlands has ever had. With sharp humor, historical surprises and a considerable dose of absurdism, we tell the story of a man who wanted to be great, but sometimes stumbled over his own shadow. Expect an ambiguous, dazzling performance in which seriousness and satire go hand in hand – just like with Willem II himself.

We'd love to send you into the woods this summer

Location het Amsterdams Bostheater

Run time 110 min without intermission
Genre Music Theatre
Language Language no problem
Subtitles English, on Thursdays as of June 19th

Willem II

In the turbulent historical context of revolutions, wars, takeovers and toxic family relationships, this king wanted to rage, experiment and, above all, be loved. He scattered money and promises. Forgotten, maligned, unloved and perhaps smoothly hidden in the black pages of history, the versatile Sanne den Hartogh (NITE) brings our ‘hero of Waterloo’ back to life in the musical and exuberant music theater performance. Flanked by a full range of family, confidants and court, with special roles for father Willem I, nymphomaniac sister Marianne, schemer Guardian Angel and iconic woman Anna Paulowna.-|-Immerse yourself in this absurd, historical and rich theater experience, against the backdrop of the magical Amsterdam forest, because the influence of this ‘wild one’ on the Netherlands and all of us is still greater than we think and even extends to the creation of the constitution as we still have it today.

Pay-It-Forward: gifting Willem II to an unknown person

Do you have a nice life and no financial worries? Do you love theater, think everyone should be able to enjoy theater in nature and have (a little) money to spare? Then you might want to consider buying, instead of a regular ticket, a Pay-It-Forward ticket. With this ticket, you buy two tickets, one for yourself and one for someone who does not have the means to visit theater.

how this works read here

Credits

cast Sanne den Hartogh, Alex Hendrickx, Julie Boellaard, Freek den Hartogh, Whitney Sawyer, Jacob de Groot, Erik van der Horst, Laura Trompetter, Daan Put, Marie Claire Molly, Sarah ten Pas and Maaike Franken
script & regie Tom de ket
set design Michiel Voet
costume design Sanne Oostervink
compositions & musical direction Erik van der Horst
lighting design Uri Rapaport
sound design Sander van de Werff
dramaturgy Cecile Brommer

-|-
regie assistant Anne Reitsma
producer Out of Office Productions in co-productie with NITE and het Amsterdamse Bostheater
partner Internationaal Theater Amsterdam
photos Annemieke van der Togt & Willem van Walderveen

Willem II is a production of Out of Office Productions in coproduction with NITE and het Amsterdamse Bostheater. Willem II is supported by the Blockbuster Fonds and by Internationaal Theater Amsterdam as an alliance partner of het Amsterdamse Bostheater.