Days of Dutch Culture - St. Petersburg 2003

Programme - Days of Dutch Culture

Muztheater "Pjotr"

Dates: 15 - 16 September
Location: Baltic House

‘Pjotr or New Amsterdam’ is a co-production between The Experimental Stage and the MUZtheater. The centre of the plot evolves around the dreams of Peter the Great (Pyotr Veliky, Tsar of Russia 1672–1725). In 2002, Jan-Willem van Kruyssen (producer / composer), Eva-Catherina Mathijssen (playwright) met with the Artistic Director and actors of The Experimental Stage to visit historical sites in St. Petersburg and the surrounding region that are connected with Peter the Great. The main idea and plot of the play was devised and discussed during these meetings. Since then, the play has been finished and translated into Russian, and the music has been composed. In March, rehearsals started, with the premiere in St. Petersburg intended for the middle of September 2003, followed by the Dutch premiere in Zaandam. This is the first time that the company has commissioned a professional painter and sculptor to co-operate with a stage designer on the scenery and costumes for a theatre production. Plot summary: In his dreams, Pjotr is constructing a new city, which should be visible by the end of the performance.

Peter the Great visited Zaandam for the first time in 1697. During a whole week, he stayed at Gerrit Kist’s small wooden house to familiarise himself with the ship building and paper making techniques of the more modern Western countries. For four months he studied ship building, working as a ship's carpenter in the docks of the Dutch East India Company in Zaandam. He travelled incognito under the name of Peter Michaeloff, and he visited Zaandam on three other occasions, the last time in 1717. Over the years, Gerrit Kist's little house suffered damages from floods and moisture, so in 1895 Emperor Nicholas II ordered that the house should be enclosed within a stone building. Every year, the site is visited by thousands of tourists, and when Napoleon saw the little house he commented, “For great men nothing is too small!”

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