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Emma Watson - The Play

Caro Derkx & Nora El Koussour / Frascati Producties
Fri 18 Feb ’22 - Thu 22 Dec ’22
A filmic show about the power of role models, new heroes and other possibilities
Fri 18 Feb ’22
-
Thu 22 Dec ’22

A cinematic show about the power of role models, new heroes and other possibilities. Suppose change begins because we dare to think differently. Suppose we would dare to shape that world according to our ideals. Suppose idealism begins in theatre. Then this is that rare opportunity to escape from everything we thought we knew so well.

Excerpt from an interview with Emma Watson on ‘Beauty and the Beast’
Interviewer: ‘How young were you, when you were first told that you looked like Belle? I mean, everyone thinks you look like her, but I’m curious how young were you when people started telling you this?’
Emma: ‘That’s so interesting, I don’t think, I didn’t think, I don’t think anyone ever told me that.’
Interviewer: ‘What do you have in common with the character?’ 
Emma: ‘I get really excited about libraries, and books.’ 
Interviewer: ‘Yeah we know that.’ 

Emma Watson (Paris, 1990) is a British actress, activist, feminist and (role) model. In Emma Watson – The Play, Caro Derkx continues her search for identity. In an attempt to meet the other, Derkx – together with actress Nora El Koussour – enters into a dialogue with Emma Watson. A filmic production on the power of role models, new heroes and other possibilities. Imagine that change starts with us daring to think differently. Imagine we had the courage to shape this world according to our ideals. Imagine that idealism starts in the theatre. This would be that rare opportunity to escape from everything we thought we knew so well. 

  • Dutch and English are spoken in this production
  • Duration: 75 minutes
  • Premiere on Friday 18 February 2022
  • Touring from December 2022

In the press

“Millennials have grown up with her: Emma Watson, Hermione from the Harry Potter films, a feminist, British bookworm. As did Caro Derkx, who came up with the idea for Emma Watson – The Play. Her obsession with Watson – healthy or unhealthy – has in any event proved fertile.” Het Parool

“intriguing hall of mirrors” “when Derkx, playing Watson, interviews her great inspiration Rebecca Solnit (played with marvellous nonchalance by El Koussour), the theatre-maker channels the admiration she herself feels for Watson. In this way, the production is a good example of how idealism can spread, like an oil slick.” ★★★ NRC

Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant spent several months backstage during the making of Emma Watson – The Play. From the writing process to the kick-off in the attic of Frascati 4, and from the costume try-ons to the personal discussions between Caro Derkx and Nora El Koussour. Read the article here (in Dutch).

Here you can read the interview with Caro on Emma Watson – The Play from the NRC newspaper (in Dutch).

About Caro Derkx and Nora El Koussour

Caro Derkx (Arnhem, 1995) graduated in 2019 from Toneelacademie Maastricht institute of performative arts with her solo production Me, Myself and Sir Roger Scruton. A political-psychological thriller of ideas about conservative British philosopher Sir Roger Scruton, examining in detail the attraction of neoliberal ideas to a younger generation. The production won both the ‘Henriëtte Hustinx Prize 2019’ and ‘Het Debuut 2019’. In her work, Derkx probes the complex relations between fact and fiction, reality and fantasy, actuality and opinion-forming and the ever more problematic notion of authenticity. Starting in the 2020-2021 season, Caro Derkx has been developing her work with Frascati Producties. She made her debut for Frascati Producties with the thought experiment A Portrait of the Artist in Red, Yellow and Blue.

Nora El Koussour (Veghel, 1994) like Derkx has a great love of the visual arts, literature and philosophy. She is fascinated by thinkers such as Angela Davis and Audre Lorde, and is a big fan of Helena Bonham Carter, Stephen Fry and Michaela Coel. Koussour made her debut in 2016 in the eponymous role of Layla in the film Layla M. A poignant story of the complex search for a lively, intelligent teen with a radical character. Her performance won Koussour a Golden Calf, a Les Arcs for Best Actress, an Angela Award at The Subtitle Festival and an Outstanding Award for Best Actress at the Philadelphia Film Festival. She has also performed in, among others, Nervosa, Ramzi, Mocro Maffia, De belofte van Pisa, the British series Baghdad Central, and she both performed in and collaborated on the writing of the production Melk en Dadels.

by and with Caro Derkx performance Caro Derkx and Nora El Koussour dramaturgy Bo Tarenskeen costume design Wolter Pot styling Chinouk Jongerius filmmaker Jan Oudemans sound design Olaf Kroon lighting design Varja Klosse direction/final direction Thomas Dudkiewicz production Frascati Producties thanks to Hannah van Wieringen, Marcelle Kuiper and Berthe Spoelstra

Emma Watson – The Play is a neatly constructed play about the English actress’ activism. Caro Derkx and Nora El Koussour manage to get under the skin of Watson and authors interviewed by her, such as American feminist Rebecca Solnit, with frightening precision.

★★★ de Volkskrant

Caro Derkx

Frascati Producties