Last Sunday we attended the premiere of the renewed version of Soldaat van Oranje. The guests were welcomed with a fitting orange carpet, and several veterans of this musical were present. Prior to the production, the organization had already shared some information about the innovations in the show via several videos. This offered a first glimpse of what is to come in a show that has been playing for 14 years and has been visited by millions of people.
Regarding the changes: The roles of Ada and Anton have become clearer and more elaborated in our opinion. Both are members of the SS: Anton, partly due to the influence of his parents, follows this political conviction. Ada, as Anton’s girlfriend, follows him faithfully, but later regrets this. Especially when she discovers what Anton did to his own friends. What we have also experienced is that there is more depth in the storylines. The friendship was always clearly palpable, but was previously presented rather factually. The emotions now go deeper. The grief is given more space. For example, Erik is more affected by the death of Bram and he really needs time to recover from this. The same applies to the loss of Van Houten and Charlotte. Joep Paddenburg plays these emotions realistically and powerfully.
Ada’s story also plays a bigger role in the production. She gets her own solo number, beautifully performed by Dorien van Gent. Choosing between good and evil in wartime is difficult for everyone, especially if you also want to stand behind your loved one and support him.
The decor has undergone a renewal. Especially the projections have been partly supplemented, replaced and improved. After 14 years it is understandable that they have become more innovative in this. For us the new scene with the wagon for Charlotte’s transport added little, but we can imagine that this clarifies for the viewer what is going to happen to Charlotte. On the other hand, the wagon could have been placed in the decor with a bit more attention.
The show also remains solid: an experience that remains valuable to visit, especially for the new generation, because we must not forget. In our view, the show was not innovative, but certainly deepening and with more use of current technology. The current cast is already a reason for us to go.
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