What is the best youth theater of this season? Hntjong Great winner when awarding silver crickets

The Jeugdtheaterjury of the VSCD (Association of Schouwburg and Concertgebouw Management) has announced who won the Zilveren Krekels for the best youth theater for the 2024-20025 season. The silver crickets, also the nominations for the Golden Krekels, are awarded in two categories: for ‘most impressive performance in a youth theater production’ and for ‘most impressive youth theater production’.

The silver crickets for performance in a youth theater performance go to actor Rick Paul van Mulligen for his role in Romeo & Julia van Hntjong & the National Theater & IRC, to designers Pluck Venema, Noor Sanders, Annelies Michelle Shakison and Yannick Verweij for their design of When my father flew into the night from Studio Figur, to actor Yassine El Amriti for his role in Hassan and Moos from De Toneelmakerij, to actor Piet Kooij for his role in Only sweet guys van Hntjong, and to sound designers Démira and Mick van Broekhoven for their soundscape of Child of Human from Theater Oostpool & Theater Sonnevanck.

The silver crickets for a youth theater production go to Only sweet guys Van Hntjong controlled by Loek de Bakker, to Justifiably from Wabi Sabi Theater, Het Houten Huis & Stichting Recovery & Return to Maarten Smit, to A Country Inside My Head van Hntjong controlled Dimphna van Kempen, to Best Friends from case A directed by Lara van Hoof, and to There is an elephant at the bus stop From the Theatermakers branch in the direction of Monique Corvers.

School performance

The prize rain is a triumph for HNTjong in The Hague, which receives four prizes/ nominations. Special is the crown of A Country Inside My HeadThat already toured as a school performance in 2021, but last season was seen in a new adaptation in the theaters.

Although Rick Paul van Mulligen has already set numerous beautiful roles, according to the VSCD Jeugdtheaterjury he plays in Romeo and Julia « The role of his life »: « Beautifully launching between maternal warmth, Tough Lovedesperate vulnerability and suddenly bubbling frustration, he puts down a woman who always tries to do the right thing, despite the traumas that she and her children meet.  » In another Hntjong production, the jury Piet Kooij praises: « From moment one, Piet Kooij has the spectator in the tang. »

According to the jury, Yassine El Amriti puts a teenager the highest word, according to the jury, who convincingly portrays the highest word opposite the audience and his best friend, but who also constantly hints the small injuries and uncertainties of his character. « 

The performance of actors at the youth theater prizes are mixed with the performance of technical teams. Special is the comparison with what AI produces as a compliment to the makers of the Soundscape of the performance Child of Human: « The Soundscape has an unpredictable dynamic, comes in the theater trailer from all corners and holes and sometimes seems to have been put together by AI in its eclectic form. » About the imaginative design of When my father flew into the night The jury says: « In the design there is a strong one playing with a scale: the different, highly detailed models place the show in the middle of the raw reality of people who have to flee for their lives and then no welcomed anywhere. »

The presentation of the Zilveren and Gouden Krekels is on September 14, at the end of the Nederlands Theater Festival.

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