Fairy tales in which the wolf plays a leading role? There are quite a lot of them. In the new family show ‘Broodkapje and about seven goats’ they are nicely mixed up.
“Who isn’t ready yet?” director Jack Nieborg shouts through the old Camera cinema on Hereplein in Groningen.
It remains quiet. “Okay, let’s get started then!” he continues.
“No!” comes from several mouths behind the decor.
The rehearsal of the new theater piece Broodkap and about seven goats is about to begin. Director Nieborg sits at the front of the room with his red notepad and red pen.
The actors transform into fairy-tale characters at breakneck speed. While it used to be the northern celebrities such as Frank den Hollander, Alina Kiers, Jan Veldman, Albert Secuur and Carmen Schilstra who walked across the stage, they suddenly changed into piglets, goats, older ladies and a wolf. Ready to sing, dance and act.
Big Ben, Big Mac and Big Lebowski
The story? The wolf is back in Boskamp and the residents of the village, including the three little pigs, are not happy about that. Broodkapje’s mother doesn’t like it either. And the wolf? He states that he has improved his life. “It contains quite a few current themes,” says Secuur. “It’s about identity. Who am I ? Am I actually welcome? Those kinds of themes.”
Kiers nods. “It is also about punishment and whether you can return to society as a criminal.”
Sounds tough. But if there is air in it somewhere, it is in this family performance. This is already noticeable in the names of the characters. These are the names of the piglets: Big Ben, Big Mac and Big Lebowski. The names were created by the cast themselves.
Broodkap and about seven goats is a play in the tradition of the British Christmas Pantomimes, although director Nieborg – best known from Shakespeare Theater Diever and also a fairy tale expert because he made fairy tale adaptations for the Stadsschouwburg years ago – gives it his own twist.
Officially, two fairy tales are combined in a pantomime. There are more in this performance, including: Little Red Riding Hood and The wolf and the seven goats . “You can have fun with fairy tales,” says the director. “And you can use a lot of humor in it.”
‘Everything comes back’
The musical performance will premiere for the second time on Friday, December 1, in Kielzog Hoogezand. The first time was already in 2021. Then everything was expertly turned around by the second lockdown. “With tears in our eyes we sang the closing song with the appropriate title: Everything comes back ,” says Kiers. “And here we are again.”
The story is not quite the same anymore. For example, Nieborg cycled in a completely new song this week, just for fun. “He likes to do that,” says Secuur. “To shake things up a bit. You also hear him laugh the loudest when things don’t go as they should. A kind of save-your-ass show.”
They have kept the elaborate decor all this time. The parts were stored in an iron workshop for two years. “There was a thin layer of iron mortar on everything,” says Kiers. The cleaning cloth had to be wiped over that. The cheerful decor with colored doors and houses stacked on top of each other now stands proudly and there is not a speck of gray dust to be seen.
Once everyone is in costume, the rehearsal can really begin. When the first song starts, it’s immediately a party. The wolf is back.
Playlist
The show Broodkap and about seven goats can be seen in six theaters in the near future. The club will play a try-out in Kielzog Hoogezand on November 30. The premiere is on Friday, December 1 at the same location. Other performance dates: December 2 in Kielzog, December 22 and 23 in Theater de Molenberg in Delfzijl, January 2 and 3 in the Stadsschouwburg of Groningen, January 6 in De Klinker in Winschoten, January 14 in De Lawei in Drachten and January 20 in the Tamboer in Hoogeveen.