Scenery design for 'The Children of the Sun' by Maxim Gorki, Noord Nederlands Toneel, Director Koos Terpstra, opening night september 16, 2003
'The Children of the Sun' is about the elitarian circles surrounding the chemist Protassov. While he is busy developing a substance that will make all people happy, the people in his environment are occupied with personal problems. In conversations about life, love, science and art, everyone tries to come to grips with their own small little world. Slowly a cholera epidemic and the associated social unrest creep in…. In the high fluorescent-pink space the walls lean forward. That is why the doors always fall shut with a bang. The servants wear pink clothes, so that they fade away against the pink walls. The pink accentuates the naivity and idealism of the characters, the radiance of ‘The Children of the Sun’, but equally it has a chemical radiation, which fits in with the main character, the chemist Protassov.
Direction: Koos Terpstra
Translation: Josiene C. Termaat, Veerle van Overloop
Setdesign: Roos van Geffen
Costumes: Nelly Blessinga
Actors: Loek Peters, Lotje van Lunteren, Mirjam Stolwijk, Yorick Zwart, Martijn de Rijk, Veerle van Overloop, Niels Croiset, Aafke Buringh, Ludo Hoogmartens,Rogier in 't Hout, Wolter Muller
Photography: Karel Zwaneveld
Review NRC Handelsblad, September 18, 2003
(...) Under the direction of Koos Terpstra, 'The Children of the Sun' is a beautiful example of stylized theatre, (...) In the ambiance that is as pink as a stick of rock, the characters slam doors out of anger or disappointment. All men are dressed in a black suit, the actresses in silvery-grey dresses with cornflower-blue stockings and the servants are dressed in the same outspoken pink as the walls. A nice image: they are not allowed to get noticed; they are actually invisible.
Review De Volkskrant, September, 2003
(...) and one gets entirely fascinated by this remarkable crowd in their brilliant pink environment.
Review Metro, September 22, 2003
(...) The bare and vulnerable play interacting with the briljant pink scenery make ‘The Children of the Sun’ a penetrating performance.