Japanese fairy tales is a safe, uncomplicated summer youth performance ★★★☆☆

The open-air theater itself remains closed during the family performance Japanese fairy tales. Actors and audiences travel together into the beautiful Bloemendaal forests around Caprera.

In the middle of nature, somewhere in a place where the forest gently changes into the dunes, we meet our guide: a mobile forest spirit called Koele Bries. He makes us feel the ground and embrace the trees and acts as an intermediary between people and nature. Because what people don’t know is that nature is alive too. In fact, that every plant, moss and animal has a spirit. Cool Breeze calls them Kami. He’s going to summon that Kami with us. Because they have a story to tell.

Japanese fairy tales is an atmospheric, uncomplicated summer youth performance that relies on the location. It is a safe choice by Caprera for the open-air theater’s first-ever in-house production. The cooperation of Toneelschuur Productions and the Toneelmakerij and the young director Jessie L’Herminez could not provide a more stimulating approach. It is what it is: fairytales in the woods. While the Toneelmakerij last year with The three little pigs and the wolf suit just delivered a wonderfully stubborn fairy tale in the Amsterdam forest.

Fortunately, the pace is high and the actors play nice and bold. Keanu Visscher in particular is enchanting as Cool Breeze. He leads the young audience with ease along the sometimes inimitable fairy tales of the Kami. When Koele Bries says we have to blow, the entire audience blows. In this way we chase away the evil spirits before we have got to know them well.