In the van on the way to the theater, Plien van Bennekom (52) and Bianca Krijgsman (55), aka cabaret duo Plien & Bianca, share everything with each other: joy, sadness, but especially the uncomfortable situations in which they find themselves. These stories have now been collected in the book De Binnenstebuitentrui, which will be published on Tuesday.
“We recently went to visit someone,” says Bianca. “Plien was there first and shouted: ‘Hey, you went to the hairdresser! Do you have new pants? Oh, what a nice table!’ Five minutes later I came in and it was again: ‘Hey, you went to the hairdresser! Do you have new pants? Oh, what a nice table. We are so on the same page that people sometimes find us a bit scary.” Plien adds: “We are often seen as one person. That’s fine, I now also listen when someone calls me ‘Bianca’.”
They have been friends since the Kleinkunst Academie and a duo since they won the Camaretten Festival together in 1996. They also have their careers separately: this is how Plien currently presents All of Holland Bakt Kids and Bianca was seen in the hospital series Day Night . Yet they always return to each other. Their theater show And now? has only just been completed and they are already in the shops with a book.
“During the performance we see each other three times a week and sometimes sit in the van talking for hours,” says Plien. “All things in life pass by,” says Bianca. “We sometimes get into that van full of emotions. It’s nice that you can immediately express that to a friend, so that we can then go on stage free of everything.”
There is a lot of gossip in the air
If there is no performance – and therefore no van – things will get messy. “She is more of a caller, I am a texter,” Bianca explains. “And Bianca has a very bad memory,” Plien adds. Then she says, “I have to tell you something really juicy, but I forget what.” So there is a lot of gossip in the air that never reached me.” Bianca: “I would do very poorly as Yvonne Coldeweijer.”
Anyway, writing letters to each other turned out to be a nice replacement for the van. This way they could share everything they experienced together.
“We always enjoy playing uncomfortable people, but while writing it became more and more about our own discomfort,” says Plien. “I had another situation like this this morning,” says Bianca. “I’m always jealous of people who just wear a nice blouse and a jacket from the closet, who have their keys in a fixed place and whose car isn’t junk. In the meantime, we have already texted each other: ‘Should we just wear a jogging suit?’ But we have recovered, as you can see.”
Laughing and crying are quite close together
Successful people actually find them ‘boring’. “There are colleagues who say about themselves: ‘Just full houses’. That’s what we say to each other when we have failed,” says Plien, laughing. Bianca: “Do you know that feeling when such a successful person suddenly starts talking about his failed holiday at a party? Thank God, what a relief!” Plien agrees: “Failed people are the best. Last week I watched the Televizierring gala on TV. On social media I only saw naked success dresses and other successes. And then suddenly Bianca’s head passed by, pissed off because Kim van Kooten didn’t win. Delicious!”
Bianca thought there were no cameras on the balcony where she was sitting, she explains. “That was another failed showbiz moment. One of many. When we take part in a game show, I lie awake at night thinking about the embarrassing things I said. If I am invited to the Uitblinkerslunch with Willem-Alexander and Máxima, I go home depressed because the king had no idea who I was and I did not dare to say that I had won an Emmy Award. I’m just not very good at talking. Yes, to Plien. Hence that book. Because I like it that the people who come to our performance also learn more about us. “You must be laughing all day long,” I often hear. You should know, I think. I’m a whiner. But laughing and crying are quite close together.”
The boob bus, hot flashes and handing in a pot of poop
So the friends divide up The Inside Out sweater not only the discomfort of being cast as a ‘whore in a windbreaker’ and being spoken to admonishingly for raking leaves too early, but also more personal things are discussed – with humor. Such as Bianca’s divorce and new courtship and the death of Plien’s sister. “On the day that she was dead for five years, I actually wanted to share a photo on Instagram. But I find ‘displaying your sadness’ something difficult. Just like those people who capture their tears for the followers. Am I like that now too? I will write about that to Bianca.”
The duo is now over 50, which also brings up topics such as a visit to the breast bus, hot flashes and handing in a jar of poop to the doctor. “We have no embarrassment towards each other, so maybe that makes it easier for us to write it down,” says Bianca.
Plien: “There are moments in your life when decorum is hard to find, and then I hope people recognize themselves in that and think: oh yes, they are just as uncomfortable as I am.”