Fotografie door Florian Cats
I have some super exciting news to share! August and Suzy are now appearing on stage for the very youngest.
Together with Robin from Dutch publisher Lemniscaat, I was invited to attend the pre-premiere of Cadeautje!, performed by the ‘Maskermeiden’ Sarah van der Meere and Valerie van de Ridder at the Amstelveens Poppentheater. And wow, it was so much fun!
They allowed me to take some photos and I’m sharing a selection in this blog post.
About the show
The show is, as you might have guessed by now, based on my book Cadeautje! (A Gift For You!) and tells the story of Suzy Squirrel, who has a birthday and receives a present from August the Fox. But… she has to wait a little before opening the gift, which is, of course, extremely difficult for such a curious squirrel.
Who is the show for?
Cadeautje! is a show of about 45 minutes for children aged 2 and up, performed without words. So if you’re in the Netherlands, and want to see it with your kid who doesn’t speak English, it won’t be an issue. The focus lies on energetic body language and engaging facial expressions. All of this is accompanied by a gentle melody in the background that changes with each new scene. The performers use masks, but these aren’t introduced immediately. They give their young audience some time to get used to them as performers first. Then, gradually, the masks are introduced, and Sarah and Valerie transform into August and Suzy. I thought this was done so well. Later, the ladies explained to me that young children can sometimes find masks a little scary, so they take the time to show the children that they put the masks on themselves. After that, they only see August and Suzy, and the masks no longer matter.
What happened next?
From the very start, the Maskermeiden managed to captivate their audience attention. And as the story progressed, their excitement kept growing. Some children even jumped on the benches when things got exiting. They shouted, “Watch out! Behind you!” at August when he wasn’t paying attention, and “No, you can’t open it yet!” at Suzy when she got mischievous and wanted to open her present.
Robin, his wife who joined us, and I were sitting all the way at the back, and we could literally see everything unfold right before our eyes. It was so funny to watch. And all the giggles and laughter every time something silly happened were contagious š
In short, I think it’s fair to say that the Maskermeiden delivered a very successful premiere.
Do you have young children? I can wholeheartedly recommend you to watch this show with them.
I also got the chance to take a photo with the performers myself.
Where can I book the show?
For performances of Cadeautje! or other shows by the Maskermeiden, it’s best to keep an eye on their website or social media.
On Sunday, January 4th, 2026, the premiere of Cadeautje! will be performed at Theater Winsinghhof in Roden, the Netherlands.
Want to book a performance? Then contact Theater Bureau Frijns or the Maskermeiden
Below, you can see a few more photos I took during the show. There aren’t too many, because I didn’t want to give away too much, but I hope they’ll give you a nice impression.
Thanks so much for reading
With love!
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