ArtEZ Muziektheater & KASSETT | BARONIE - Parkvilla Alphen aan den Rijn
During the week of February 17–22, 2025, 10–12 second-year Music Theatre students from ArtEZ Conservatorium will come to Parkvilla to work on the performance BARONIE under the guidance of the music theatre collective KASSETT. The stories of former employees of the Baronie serve as the foundation for the performance. Using these stories as inspiration, the students will create a performance in less than a week.
Performance date: Saturday, February 22, 2025, at 8:30 PM.
The performance BARONIE tells the story of the Baronie, the chocolate factory that was located in Alphen aan den Rijn from 1954 to 2001. It was the first building in what was then an empty field, marking the starting point of what would later become an industrial area and is now a shopping center. This "icon of modernism and progress" spurred rapid population and economic growth.
It’s every child’s dream: waterfalls of chocolate milk, fields of sour belts, and conveyor belts filled with bonbons and gumballs. Inspired by Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we all imagined candy-filled paradises as children. At the same time, this story also touches on a contemporary question about today’s society: Is growth always progress? Does a larger economy, population, wealth, and production always lead to a better society?
As a society, we seem to think very differently about this now compared to 70 years ago, when post-war reconstruction was in full swing, and progress was synonymous with growth. Have our childhood dreams turned out to be illusions? Have childhood dreams changed altogether, or do children still dream of chocolate waterfalls? BARONIE explores the flip side of dreams. Where is the line between dreams and nightmares? When does progress turn into regression? And when does pure chocolate become so bitter that no one enjoys it anymore?
Previous collaboration: Parkvilla, KASSETT, and ArtEZ (MARTHA)
Earlier this year, the three organizations collaborated on the successful project and performance MARTHA, which centered on the Marthastichting, the orphanage whose school was once housed in Parkvilla.
Created and performed by: ArtEZ Music Theatre students
Direction and guidance: Oukje den Hollander and Frank Siera
Coordination (Parkvilla): Agnes van den Ham
Performance date: Saturday, February 22, 2025, at 8:30 PM
Tickets (including a drink):
- Standard: €15.00
- Parkvilla Friends: €13.00
Tickets: https://tickets.parkvilla.nl/shop/tickets-new.php?showid=7181