The Drents Production House Mrs. Ogterop will expand for the next four years with extra programs in addition to the performances she makes. The municipality of Meppel supports the theater makers with 50,000 euros up to and including 2028 annually.
The past three years have been a trial period for Mrs. Ogterop. “In it, Mrs. Ogterop put down three theater productions, all of which have been praised by the regional and national press,” the municipality writes. In 2022 the performance attracted 1100 visitors, and that grew to 3000 for last year’s theater piece. The performances of Mrs. Ogterop go throughout the country. Up to and including 2028, another four performances are made.
It will expand with floor programs for the next four years. They must serve as a supplement to their own productions. The purpose of this is to involve the local and regional public more in the activities. It is mainly focused on Drenthe. These programs can also be carried out separately from the performances.
This concerns, for example, meetings and projects. The common thread in this becomes the relationship between imagination and reality. These programs have the central question ‘How do we find common ground to meet?’. An example of such a floor program was the Night of the Future of Drenthe this year. That was a festival in Schouwburg Ogterop in Meppel in which young Theatermakers Drenthe share their vision of the future.
Next season it will be a podcast series, in which the makers start looking for the Drenthe identity. For a year, Drenten are interviewed about their relationship with the place where they live and grew up and their relationship with Drenthe. The plan is to turn this into a series of audio portraits, in which young Drenthe musicians such as Joost Dijkema, Julia Dubbelboer, Isa Zwart and Tamar make music. This will then be listening via the social media and website of Mrs. Ogterop, but also in public places in Drenthe.
Artistic leader of the Toneelgroep is the Meppelse Lotte Dunselman. For the next four years, she mainly involves actors from Drenthe and the other northern provinces for the performances. According to the municipality, it contributes to ‘a flourishing regional and national theater climate’, and strengthens the cultural identity of the region.
Last weekend the fourth performance premiered, a theater piece based on the book ‘The Eternal Jachtvelden’ by the Groningen writer Nanne Tepper. This performance can be seen until 9 May in Veendam, Assen, Roden, Leiden, Steenwijk, Amsterdam, Zwolle and Breda, among others.
The premiere of the fifth performance will follow in November.