CKV report

theatre

Jolien van Dijk H4F

Introduction

On the 1st of October we went to see a theatre play by the theatre group
Oostpool. We went to see Demonen. Demonen is directed by Marcus
Azzini. There are four actors throughout the whole play: Daan Schuurmans,
Kirsten Mulder, Mariana Aparicio Torres and Rick Paul van Mulligen. We
visited the play in the Hanzehal in Zuthpen. This report will be about the
play Demonen and will feature the worksheet and the review with an
article.

Essay
The play begins with a girl walking on a stage made of, what looks like
glass. There were no curtains that were risen before the play started, you
were able to see the girl already before the play even started.
The scene of the play was quite unique, I havent seen any stages like this
in theatre plays before. They made a glass like stage, and all the actors
were on their bare feet, because the stage was not flat but had a hill.
There were no pieces of furniture like a couch or a chair. They kept it really
simple and had to use their imagination when sitting down on a chair.
They did use some sound effects and music. Whenever they changes the
scene, the lights would go off and some instrumental music would play.
They also used some sound effects when the radio would start to play or
would shut down.
This performance was about a couple, Katarina and Frank. Frank arrives
home with the ashes of his mother and isnt too happy. But they eventually
decide to invite their neighbours over for a cup of coffee. A lot of things
happen during this night. Normal things as well as weird things. Eventually
you discover the meanings behind these things as you watch the
performance.
There are a lot of conflicts in this play. They are mostly between Katarina
and Frank. They seem to fight about every word that they use, and
eventually that builds up to a bigger argument/conflict.
Through this whole performance there were only four characters.
Katarina, Frank, Tomas and Jenna. Katarina and Frank are the owners of
the house where the whole performance is performed. They are not too
happy with each other. Tomas and Jenna are the neighbours, and they just
had a new baby.

I emphasized the most with Jenna. She was the most normal character of
them all, and she was the one who didnt get mad at everything, like the
others.
I think one of the most effective devices that the director used was the
radio. It kind of gave the whole performance something funny, and gave
the drama a little break from being overly dramatic. I thought that was a
very smart move of the director.
The structure of the play was well made, you had a nice build up, it didnt
start in a huge drama and build up slowly to the different events.
The atmosphere of the play was very chaotic, dramatic and sometimes
violent. The characters would argue a lot with each other, and at one point
it got a little violent when Frank threw the vase to the ground and threw
the ashes of his own mother over his wife.
The actors dont speak directly to the audience, they mostly talk to each
other on the stage, and dont communicate as much with the audience.
The purpose of the play is to send a message to the audience through a
theatre play. And also to entertain their audience that are watching the
theatre play.
The acting plays a role in the theatre play because without the acting
there wouldnt even be a performance, scenery and props play a role,
because they are used multiple times in the play and it is used while the
actors are playing their role.
the most important theme was darkness, the characters were not really in
a happy place most of the times, and were also surrounded by dark
(unhappy) people at the same time. So I think Darkness would be very
fitting.
There was nothing specifically that gripped me during the play, I did really
like the funny moments when the music from the radio came on and Frank
would just start to dance out of nowhere.

First impression and review

My first impression of the theatre play was that it was really weird. To me
the storyline was not really clear. And I didnt really see a specific plot that
I could follow. Most of the times I was rather confused about what was
happening at that point, then actually amused.

Eventually I did not really like the play that much, but it was interesting to
look at the different ways the characters acted, and the different scenarios
that happened. I wouldnt personally visit a play like this again, but it was
fun to try at least once.

Comments on review
( The review is in Dutch because the play was in Dutch as well.)
This is a review of the play Demonen. I agree with this review but at the
same time I disagree. I didnt really think that this play was that
interesting to look at and that it was entertaining the whole 3 hours. But I
do agree with the fact that it was unique and never done before. And the
makeup that they used on the hands, knees and other places was really
unique and well thought of.
https://www.stadsschouwburgutrecht.nl/cms_files/MediaGalerij/Other/otherfiles13521_00.pdf