The largest puppet theater festival in the Netherlands is back. Puppet International in Meppel expects to attract 6,000 visitors until Sunday for the more than 250 performances. Telling why this festival is so much fun is not that easy.
“Meppel? Are we in Meppel. Do you also have something to eat here?” asks the big white bear. It is one of the puppets of the Puppet International festival. Magda van Veen, chairman of Puppet International, is happy to receive the bear and accompanying actors in Meppel.
According to her, the entire programming of the event is rock solid: “We have 250 performances, 25 locations. I call them gems, because I know that it is the cream of the crop in Europe. This is unique.”
Explaining how much fun this festival is is one of Van Veen’s daily tasks. “In the past, only the doll-loving Dutch people came. And that is changing. You really have to see it to understand how beautiful this is. But there is still a certain image around it, that of Jan Klaassen and Katrijn. They are also there, but that’s a very small part. Five percent of our programming is for children, the rest is for adults. It’s sophisticated, theater with depth.”
“So there is also a lot that has nothing to do with dolls,” says the chairman. “Our point is that you make something come to life. You can do that with a doll, because it’s so good that when the shows with dolls are busy for a while, you really think the doll is talking. But of course you can also do other things. bringing life to life, with manipulation of movement, lights and sound. Even regular theatergoers are amazed here. There is more than with actors, the possibilities are enormous.”