Lotte Dunselman from Meppel and Wouter van Oord from Zuidlaren play in the fifth national theater play by Mrs. Ogterop: ‘Perfect Girl’. Dunselman is artistic director and organizes an annual exhibition from the Ogterop theater in Meppel. She is currently still busy with rehearsals together with Van Oord. The premiere will be on November 15 in Ogterop.
There are two white chairs in a white circle, full of confetti. Where are we?
Wouter van Oord: “This is the life coach’s room.”
Because what is this performance about?
Lotte Dunselman: “It’s about Anna, who goes to the life coach. It’s a therapy session, on stage.”
How did this story come about?
Dunselman: “I came up with it myself. I really wanted to make something about identity. Nowadays everyone has a platform, through social media. Everyone can broadcast their story. The outside seems to be becoming increasingly important. It differs from your inner world: sometimes it seems like a hole. Nowadays we are going to share that inner world. That is personal, that is private. But what is still private? I find all those questions very interesting. I came up with a concept on that. Then I I asked writer Jibbe Willems, who writes for me more often.”
Dunselman played the previous performance with two other actors. How did you get involved?
Van Oord: “We have already made a performance together: ‘I would rather be called Angel’. That was also with the same writer. That was already two years ago.”
Dunselman: “Three years ago!”
Van Oord: “This is another one.”
How is that collaboration going?
Van Oord: “It’s a lot of fun. There are few people with whom I can rehearse as freely as Lotte. So when she asked me to play again without a permanent director, but with a final director, I immediately said yes. That means that the two of us rehearse a lot. That was a lot of fun. nobrainer.”
Dunselman: “Nice. Professional.”
Dunselman: “What you see in Hollywood. Yes, you are really great! That we come to love each other so much.”
Van Oord: “But I really think it is!”
Dunselman almost shouts, “Yes, me too!”
Van Oord: “We’re not married, hahaha.”
What makes this collaboration between you so good?
Dunselman: “We have played together a lot, including at the Noord Nederlandse Toneel. We have known each other since we were 15 and 17. We both like to work very hard without bullshit. We can also get angry and then it’s okay again. We can try out all kinds of things. There is no shame. It doesn’t matter what we think of each other.”
Mrs. Ogterop’s previous performance was well received by reviewers. I saw a lot of four and five star reviews. But what lessons do you take with you from that previous piece?
Dunselman: “That was mainly a lot of fun. So we are now mainly trying to build on it. The previous one was about identity and who we are. That is also what this performance is about. My character is looking for who she is, for her insides. She has become too much of an outside person. The life coach helps her with this, but she also has a secret agenda. The previous show was comedy and a relationship drama. That is also part of this, but we also have a thriller effect added. It will also be very exciting.”
Finally. Why should people come here?
Dunselman: “Because it will be terribly beautiful.”
Van Oord: “Yes, I think you are going to have a really nice evening at the theater. I dare say that now.”
The premiere is on November 15. The performance can then be seen in this province in Theater de Winsinghhof in Roden, De Tamboer in Hoogeveen and De Nieuwe Kolk in Assen. They also play in SP0T in Groningen, Theater Kikker in Utrecht, Chassé Theater in Breda, Theater Ins Blau in Leiden and Theater Bellevue in Amsterdam.