Diederik Hummelinck (1948-2022): ‘The great thing about producing theater is that you have a text written that can be played forever’

At the beginning of January, Diederik Hummelinck (73) is sitting at the table at home in Amsterdam. He looks frail, his health has been deteriorating rapidly since October. At his request, wife Simone de Waard (71) also joins. She wrote texts for Seth Gaaikema, judged at cabaret festivals and ran an events agency. The theater couple has been married for 40 years this month.

Hummelinck isn’t feeling well, but, he says, ‘talking about my work is a nice distraction.’ That is why he likes to reflect one more time on his 40-year career in the theater. He talks soberly and relaxed about his self-chosen end of life by means of euthanasia. “Everything that was once fun has become a burden. It is no longer possible to read a book. When I turn a page, I forget what I read on the previous one. My problem is mostly boredom. I read in de Volkskrant about Clairy Polak who visited her demented husband daily in the nursing home for years. A nightmare for me, but also for Simone. I couldn’t sleep on that for three nights.’ He pauses and gently strokes her curls. ‘Then I knew I didn’t want to go any further and I told Simone that. I want to be ahead of the time when I can no longer decide on that myself.’

As an active member of D66, De Waard is familiar with the matter. ‘It didn’t really surprise me, but it did startle me. Although I also told him: ‘You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.’ I noticed that this relieved him enormously. That same evening, he started talking about us in the past tense. I told him, ‘You take something away from me, but you also give me something back. My life.’ We grow together slowly towards the end.’ Hummelinck: ‘On Christmas Eve, our oldest son told us that his wife is pregnant. Our first grandchild. So I will never see that. But I’m overjoyed to know. It is curious to experience in this way how closely life and death are connected.’

Plans for the funeral are currently still abstract, they say. Hummelinck: ‘I would like a theatrical funeral, but corona makes that complicated. De Waard: ‘In the summer I would like to hire theater café De Smoeshaan in Amsterdam for a drink.’ The past few months have been turbulent for the family. The realization of parting comes with shock. De Waard: ‘I had booked a tennis trip in Tuscany for October. That had already been postponed a few times due to corona. After much deliberation, I went anyway. Our two children were here at the time. They noticed that Diederik was confused and forgot more and more. The wish for euthanasia therefore no longer came as a complete surprise to them. When I got back, I hung my summer clothes in the closet and suddenly realized: if I take this out again, Diederik won’t be there anymore.’

Three winners on Cameretten

Diederik Wagenaar Hummelinck was born in 1948 in The Hague. He does not finish a history study. His career in theater starts with arranging rehearsal space for childhood friend Aernoud Witteveen, who is active with the Lage Landen Cabaret. ‘Later I also rented it out to other artists to make it profitable.’ He soon switches to booking artists and selling performances to theaters, which suits him well. Hummelinck: ‘The first year of my own company in 1978 was financed with my parents’ monthly money. They thought I was still studying.’

At his insistence, Witteveen takes part in the Cameretten cabaret festival in 1977 with the Cabaret der Lage Landen and wins. De Waard proudly adds: ‘And in the years that followed, this also happened with Joke van Leeuwen and the duo Salu, later known as De Witte Kraai. So Diederik has won Cameretten three times in a row with his acts.’ She smiles at the memory. ‘Diederik was already doing niche marketing back then with small advertisements for his agency in the program booklet. I became intrigued and wanted to know who that Diederik Hummelinck was. That’s how we got to know each other.’

With the collaboration with Arjen Stuurman since 1983, Hummelinck takes an important business step. ‘I found it difficult to deal with money, and Arjen knew what debit and credit were. We had the same taste and often quickly saw the potential of something we liked.’ Together they form the theater production company HummelinckStuurman.

If Brigitte Kaandorp wins Cameretten that year, the two immediately report backstage after the final. Kaandorp becomes their first major artist, with whom they collaborate for six performances. At the same time, HummelinckStuurman also had great success with Alex d’Electrique: a startling, pleasant anarchist trio with a unique mix of cabaret and drama.

The madness of Hans Teeuwen

Another cherished artist that Hummelinck likes to think about is Hans Teeuwen, the new big name after Brigitte Kaandorp. Together with Roland Smeenk he also won Cameretten in 1991. De Waard: ‘The stage was still warm and Diederik was already in the dressing room.’ Hummelinck: ‘Their tour of the performance heist ran excellent. And then Roland Smeenk died in a car accident. Hans was at home upset and suddenly also out of work. We hired him in the belief that his enormous talent would make it all right. Hans came to drink wine every day at 5 o’clock. He often slept here and read ridiculous texts to our children.’

De Waard: ‘At a birthday party with neighbor Carla, he once played a hilarious performance that the children have never forgotten.’ Hummelinck: ‘Hans has been our most special artist. He single-handedly changed the cabaret. As a person he is complicated. I’ve never met anyone where madness and genius are so close together.’ He smiles. “I’m convinced that he actually did all those crazy things he said on his shows, like turning a shit when he was in the bath with his girlfriend.” De Waard: ‘Except fucking the queen.’

Hummelinck nods stoically: ‘It was tragic that, due to his enormous popularity, Hans got the wrong audience, who only came for the flat rudeness.’

What Hummelinck also remembers with warm feelings Going to the Dogs: a highlight from the theater history of Wim T. Schippers from 1986, in which all roles were played by sheepdogs. Hummelinck: ‘That project became world news. Hans van den Broek, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs saw it in his hotel room in New York and sighed: ‘Is the Netherlands finally in the news and then it is about theater with dogs.’ Little humor, that man.’

De Waard: ‘The dogs were given chunks of meat as a reward. There was also a night performance, but then they weren’t hungry anymore and so nothing happened on stage.’

The legacy: new Dutch theater

Hummelinck found the creation of new Dutch plays essential in his work. He was the driving force behind the pieces by Paul Haenen and the Couperus arrangements by Ger Thijs, plus his own, internationally successful piece The kiss, with Carine Crutzen and Huub Stapel. ‘It was a monologue at first, but I thought it would be nicer as a dialogue. Ger actually agreed with me.’ After Hummelinck had finished his work at HummelinckStuurman in 2011, he started selling Dutch plays abroad.

Hummelinck received a lot of recognition for his major contribution to Dutch theatre. HummelinckStuurman has won the Theater Audience Award three times and together with Arjen Stuurman he was appointed knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau in 2008.

Theater is the most ephemeral form of art, but Hummelinck would like to take care of the theater heritage. He recently donated hundreds of archive boxes to The Theater Collection of the former Theater Institute Netherlands. ‘There is, for example, the script of Going to the Dogs in and everything from Alex d’Electrique. In order to properly conserve this material, I donated 15,000 euros to the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam, which manages the collection. It’s the only material in their archive from a free producer.’

Shortly before his own end, Hummelinck attached to the idea of ​​eternity. ‘The great thing about producing theater is that you have a text written that can be played forever. That’s what I think The kiss comes back to the theater sometimes.’

During his last interview, Diederik Hummelinck shows no fear of death. ‘Death invades me. Every day I experience the decline more strongly. My speech is diminishing. I long for peace. It is the desire for redemption. It is horrible for Simone and our children, but the longing for death is greater than the sadness of leaving my loved ones behind. I love sleeping. I see death as an eternal sleep.’

On Monday 31 January, Diederik Hummelinck will be said goodbye in a small circle in Theater Bellevue.