Theatre Marot

Theatre Company Marot

Text and photographs provided by Femke Kramer, Universiteit Groningen, Netherlands. (For further information, contact Femke at: F.L.Kramer@let.rug.nl)

In the late 1980s, Theatre Company Marot led off as a nameless pack of students and teachers of Dutch literature, involved in productions ensuing from seminars about sixteenth-century drama. At present, the company has developed into a troupe of enthousiastic and experienced amateur performers, making present-day theatre productions on the basis of the huge but unknown heritage of approximately 600 drama texts left by the rederijkers (poets, playwrights and actors, for the most part non-professionals, who united in "Chambers of Rhetoric," and who dominated the literary and dramatic production of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Netherlands).

Unlike many other countries, the Netherlands do not warmly cherish their medieval and late-medieval dramatical heritage by putting the plays on the late-twentieth-century stages - which is all the more surprising because of the quantity, the quality, and the historical importance of the early Dutch drama. Being the only company that performs early drama on a structural basis, Marot has built a reputation which brought the group to festivals in the UK, Canada, Italy, and Denmark.

Profound (literary) historical research lies at the basis of Marot-productions - the directors are both literary historians, specialised in the medieval and sixteenth-century Dutch literature. Yet, Marot does not produce "museum pieces," claiming to be reconstructions of bygone theatre traditions on the mere exterior, material level of "original" language, dress and setting. This is partly a matter of practical impediments - if only for the sixteenth-century Dutch language, which is as incomprehensible for the actors as it is for their audience. But more importantly, and as a matter of principle, Marot aims at direct communication to a contemporary audience (without forcing them to consult dictionaries and footnotes!) at the level of the general intentions of the plays - in the case of Marot's favourite genre, farce: arousing fun and laughter.

Although the old age of the playtexts is not neglected, and inspiration for concept and design is often drawn from sixteenth-century textual, musical and pictorial sources, Marot's productions are primarily inspired by enthousiasm, creativity, and sense of humour - as critics commented upon previous productions:

".... in this production, the actors succeeded in finding the balance of careful discipline and manic energy that is so essential for effective performance in this genre ... All together then, Marots production was an imaginative, thoughtful and energetic one, which neither patronized, nor idolized the original text, and which provided both immediate enjoyment and food for reflection on the nature and functioning of dramatic and theatrical convention." (John Cartwright, review of De Kleren van de Dokter, in Research Opportunities in Renaissance Drama, 1996)

"This was not a museum recreation, but a piece of living theatre that captured the spirit of the original in a way that careful historical accuracy does not always manage. In the end, however, the approach was less important than the creative energy and skill of the artists." (Marla Carlson, review of Schaamstreken in Western European Stages 1999)

Marot productions 1990-99:

Goossen Taeijaert (1990), Hue Mars en Venus tsaemen bueleerden (1991), De luistervink (1992), Minnevader voor de Lieve Heer (1993), De Kleren van de Dokter (1995)

1996-97: Zand erover (photos)

1997: Een abel spel van Esmoreit (photos)

1998: Schaamstreken (photos)

1999: Pek en veren (photos)

Peter Greenfield, Department of English
Contact: greenfield@ups.edu