7 nov—12 dec 2026
Agnes Laura Kumpina – Toneelschuur Producties
Venus & Adonis
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When the goddess Venus descends to messy, mortal Earth, she has eyes for only one man: Adonis. Surely she can win him over, right? After all, Venus is the perfect woman: she’s smart, powerful, accomplished. Hello, she’s a goddess; there’s literally nothing more she could do to make herself more lovable. So why then does the utterly unambitious Adonis show so little interest in her love?
About Venus & Adonis
As early as 1593, Shakespeare wrote with striking insight about something that still feels painfully familiar today. Venus & Adonis is not a romantic love story, but a precise dissection of everything we mistake for love: desire, possessiveness, jealousy, pride, rejection... We witness the all-too-familiar clash between someone who is completely ready for love and someone who shuts themselves off. Will Venus learn that what she is looking for is not actually love at all?
Director Agnes Kumpina (Cabaret Siberia) stays close to Shakespeare’s original poem Venus & Adonis, his very first published work, in a new and accessible translation. The epic poem unflinchingly exposes the darker sides of what we call love: the desire to possess, to persuade, to force, and the inability to accept a “no.”
All performances are surtitled in both Dutch and English.
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- Direction Agnes Laura Kumpina
- Based on Venus & Adonis van William Shakespeare
- Translation Peter Verstegen, uitgeverij Van Oorschot
- Adaptation Maaike Bergstra
- Cast Shauni Goetz, Roman Derwig
- Costume Design Sarah Nixon
- Set Design Yannick Verweij
- Sound Design Thijs van Vuure
- Lighting Design Casper Leemhuis
- Stage Design Charlotte Raes
How is it that Venus herself the woman who is already ‘complete’ becomes so entangled in the pursuit of that ego-driven kind of love? And how long can she keep trying before it becomes humiliating? She tries every possible way to seduce Adonis, until instinct and desire take over and she is forced to make a terrible choice.
But this Venus & Adonis doesn’t end there. Director Agnes Kumpina genuinely believes that a love without shadows does exist. She transforms the train wreck that is the ‘love’ between Venus and Adonis into something greater. Consider this performance an attempt to bring that true, pure love to the stage.
Toneelschuur Producties
More about our production house
Toneelschuur Producties is the Netherlands’ first and largest production house. Here, talented emerging directors develop productions that make an impact: bold in their approach, personal in tone, and impossible to forget.
Back by popular demand: the Toneelschuur Producties Try-Out Package!
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