Mariana Aparicio and Eelco Smits were awarded the Theo d’Or and the Louis d’Or, the most important Dutch theater prizes, on Sunday evening.
Aparicio received the statuette for her role in The Years of the National Theatre. Smits was awarded for his role in History of Violence from Toneelschuur Productions. The awards were presented during the Gala of the Dutch Theater in Amsterdam.
In The Years five actresses tell the story of one woman who grew up among the ruins of the Second World War and became a writer. “From the start, she seems to coincide with whatever is depicted on stage, whether she is in the center of attention or outside of it,” the jury praises Aparicio.
Raped man
Smits plays in History of Violence a man who has been raped and relives this experience from different perspectives. “Smits allows his character to struggle with conflicting emotions, with the gaze of outsiders and with his own judgmental gaze: the shame, the humiliation, the fear, but also the compassion for the perpetrator, the lust and excitement,” the jury explains.
In addition to the two main prizes, the Arlecchino and the Cololombina, the prizes for the most impressive contributing roles, were also awarded. These went to Rick Paul van Mulligen for his role in Queer Planet by HNT Jong and Urmie Plein, for her role in the play I’ll say sorry anyway from the collective Raymi Sambo Maakt and Aluin.
The Golden Cricket for the most impressive youth performance of the season went to POPpulism from Het Filiaal in Utrecht. The ensemble of CONTROLE van 155 & Maas theater and dance received the Golden Cricket for best stage performance in youth theater.
Gender neutral
The theater prizes of the Association of Theater and Concert Hall Directors will be awarded in their current form for the last time this year. From next year, the acting awards will become gender neutral.