Rehearsals are in full swing: the Royal Military Band Johan Willem Friso from Assen will perform the music theater piece Bommen Berend in Coevorden on Thursday and Friday.
This weekend, the municipality of Coevorden will commemorate the 350 years of relief. “It is then 350 years ago that Coevorden was liberated from the Bishop of Münster, Bommen Berend, Bernhard von Galen. And Groningen too. And those two cities played a very important role in history in 1672, the disaster year of the Netherlands. They have worked together, and also with the army. And we are now going to do that again,” says project leader Roelie Lubbers.
The battle is reenacted with the music theater piece, says director Bruun Kuijt. “Auditively then, of course. Bommen Berend, who comes from Münster as an earth bishop, as a kind of Putin, moves from Coevorden to Groningen. He expects that he will be welcome here with his Roman Catholic army. But yes, Coevorden and Groningen resist. conquered and he gets stuck at Groningen”, he gives a history lesson.
The orchestra presents both Groningen and Coevorden. “We have three singers and an actor. They play in the audience and that’s how we depict the battle.”
The piece will be performed on Thursday and Friday at the warehouse complex near Coevorden. A unique location, says Defense producer Rob Sloekers. “It is not usual that we invite people in such large numbers to a defense complex. We are now turning a defense complex into a theater. And that’s how it comes together nicely.”
After Coevorden, the group moves to Groningen, where they will perform on Sunday. There are still a few tickets available in Coevorden, in Groningen there is even more room, according to the organization.