Anne Claire de Breij

Meeuw

The National Theatre

Fri 13 Nov '26 20:30 - 22:40

The toil and fun of two generations

Fri 13 Nov '26

20:30 - 22:40

Fri 13 Nov '26

20:30 - 22:40

Philipszaal

Tickets

A family gathers at their vacation home. You follow their dreams and desires, but also witness their sadness and jealousy. The younger generation tries to make their voices heard, but the older generation would rather keep everything as it is. Director Nina Spijkers brings Chekhov’s comedy Meeuw in a fresh new way.

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A young, ambitious writer presents her first play, her boyfriend plays the lead. Together they want to change the world with their play. Her father and his girlfriend, themselves famous actors and writers, prefer to keep everything as it was. Is there room for a new voice, or is the earlier generation keeping the door closed?

Director Nina Spijkers once again opts for a gender swap of some key roles: "By having women play men's roles and vice versa, a 130-year-old play feels like it was written yesterday. It remains Chekhov's words, but now with even more powerful women's roles and more entries for humor."

Director Nina Spijkers shows with a new, bold look how alive and dangerously funny Chekhov can be: "Chekhov is one of my favorite writers because he is perhaps the best dissecter of the human soul who ever wrote for the play. He called his play a comedy. I feel very much like capturing that lightness on play."

Read or translate along live during the performanceof *
* At these performances, you can use smart LiveText glasses. The glasses display live subtitles of everything the actors say, so you can easily follow along with the performance.

The glasses also allow the text to be translated instantly into more than 220 languages. This makes the performance accessible to both hearing-impaired visitors and those who do not speak Dutch.

A limited number of glasses are available.

Book tickets with LiveText glasses

Please note: The performance includes a scene of suicide, three gunshots, and the use of herbal cigarettes. Are you thinking about suicide? Call 113 toll-free and anonymously 24/7, or chat at 113.nl.

Media coverage Meeuw
“Nina Spijkers’s reimagining of Chekhov’s * Meeuw * is brilliant” (Theaterkrant)

Credits

Text by Anton Chekhov ; Directed by Nina Spijkers; Starring Gustav Borreman, Emma Buysse, Tamar van den Dop, Antoinette Jelgersma, Yamill Jones, Yela de Koning, Anniek Pheifer, Jaap Spijkers, Translation by Laurence Senelick; Adaptation by Casper Vandeputte; Set Design by Studio Dennis Vanderbroeck; Lighting Design by Tim van ’t Hof; Sound Design by George Dhauw; Costume Design by Wojciech Dziedzic; Dramaturgy by Remco van Rijn; Assistant Director: Goosje Leeuwenstein