Eric de Vroedt (1972) graduated from Toneelschool Arnhem and was one of the founders of theatre company Monk. In 2004, he started the politically engaged mightysociety-project. In Season 11|12, De Vroedt directed After the Fall (Arthur Miller) with TA, and in 13|14 he directed John Osborne’s The entertainer (premieres May 2014).



De Vroedt on The entertainer: ‘Sons are sent off to fight in a distant war. Marriages are on the brink of collapse due to cheating and visits to prostitutes. Theatres are folding under competition from strip clubs and television. Bailiffs are banging on the doors – bankruptcy can only be avoided by evading txes or arranging credit. In The entertainier, the whole world is falling to pieces. The play sketches a moving image of five small people in a rapidly changing world. They are five members of a disturbed family, who are trying to survive with laughs and humor. No matter what, they still have their music:  they supply their own lives, society, politics and the crumbling world with wicked commentary with songs sharp as knives and hilarious sketches. The entertainer turns destruction into a moving and compelling party. Sometimes, the only remedies for impending ruin are songs and laughs. ‘Why should I care? / Why should I let it touch me! / Why shouldn’t I, sit down and try / To let it pass over me?’ ’

As a project of TA-2, De Vroedt directed Glengarry Glen Ross (David Mamet, 2009) and A Streetcar Named Desire (Tenessee Williams, 2008) with Toneelschuur Producties. In 10|11, TA staged a reprisal of Glengarry Glen Ross in the Grand Hall. Eric de Vroedt won the Amsterdamprijs 2012 and the Prijs van de Kritiek 2012 for the project ‘mightysociety’.