15-05-2025

Silke van Kamp on F*CK LOLITA
Portretfoto maker Silke van Kamp van Het Zuidelijk Toneel, poserend met handen op bovenbenen tegen een okergele achtergrond.

Over the next four years, Het Zuidelijk Toneel will be working with a permanent group of idiosyncratic creators: from established names to brand-new talent. Each and every one of them is idiosyncratic, untamed, and anything but run-of-the-mill. And they wholeheartedly embrace our love of fiction, ensemble spirit, and radically sustainable choices. Under the leadership of artistic director Sarah Moeremans and with resident dramaturg Joachim Robbrecht as her sharp sidekick, they create theater that delightfully colors outside the lines. In this section, you will get to know them through their performances. Who are they, what do they create, and why?

For this second edition of Meet the Maker, we spoke to Silke van Kamp. At Het Zuidelijk Toneel, she created the performance F*CK LOLITA together with writer Annet Bremen and actors Keja Klaasje Kwestro and Joep van der Geest. The play premiered on April 25 at Theater De Nieuwe Vorst in Tilburg and blew away not only the audience but also the press. The result? An audience that left the theater deeply impressed and five stars from both NRC and de Volkskrant. Bam!

Hey Silke! What makes a performance characteristically Silke van Kamp?

"A typical Silke van Kamp performance is a wild ride of emotions and thoughts. An emotional rollercoaster with powerful female roles, in which sharp language and brutal images meet. With raw honesty and a healthy dose of humor. Complex themes are made tangible, not explained.

I want it to rub and tingle, to hurt and give pleasure at the same time. I build a performance on layers of emotion and send that structure into the audience with brutal force. Musical, physical, abrasive, honest.

For me, a performance is only successful if the audience continues to talk and discuss afterwards, if people share their personal stories with each other in the foyer, and if I see sparkles and fire in their eyes. I want the performance to resonate in their bones and for people to feel and think something after such an evening. Then I know: we have touched something."

In F*CK LOLITA, Lolita's story is told from the female perspective. Who is this new Lolita and what can we expect from her?

"This new Lolita is, among others, Dolores Haze (Lolita, as Humbert Humbert called her), whom we - Annet Bremen and I - extracted from the book. Between the lines written by Nabokov, we gathered as much information about her as possible. We tried to separate that information from Humbert's manipulated view of her. We also enriched our Dolores with stories from many women: from ourselves (Annet, Silke, Keja), from women in our circle whom we admire, from women we interviewed, including Pelicot and other courageous women. We gave her a voice based on facts, real women, interpretations, and fantasies.

Keja Klaasje Kwestro in een rode jas steekt een sigaret aan en leest uit een boek; op de achtergrond ligt Joep van der Geest op een vloerkleed en leest.
F*CK LOLITA
The performance is based on Nabokov's scandalous novel from 1955. A book that caused quite a stir in its time, but in a way still remains very relevant. How do you see the book and why is it so important for Lolita to have her own voice now?

"I read the book years ago because it is a classic that lives on in the world as a scandalous novel and cult book. It echoed through pop culture as an exciting story about a seductive young girl who enters into a relationship with an older man. A little cheeky, I expected. But when I read it, I was shocked to find penetration, rape, and kidnapping in it while she is twelve. I didn't understand how this book ended up in the “erotic literature” genre. When I discussed it with a few people (men), I was told twice: “But she's kind of asking for it, right?” That stayed with me for years, and slowly the urge to give her a voice grew.

I think Nabokov wrote it as an indictment of abuse - with good intentions, as a criticism of the main character Humbert Humbert - but I suspect he overestimated his readers. The book has conquered the world as a male-gaze, red-eared book, and Nabokov's protest - the foreword - has been set aside.

In our society, we are making progress in the conversation about equality in (all) gender and sexuality, but we still have a long way to go. Sex education for men and women is still a world apart, and women are still raised with the warning that they must protect themselves, while men are allowed to have “fun.” Why do women have to be careful not to be assaulted or raped? And how do you protect yourself from that anyway? Why aren't men warned in sex education that there is a 1 in 4 chance that they will - consciously or unconsciously - assault or rape someone else?

Abuse, rape, femicide... the figures are still appalling (please watch Sunny Bergman's new documentary: Blue Balls and Other Rape Myths). Last year, Gisèle Pelicot took a heroic stand by going public with her own story. We must all follow in her footsteps. The shame must shift to the other side, and for that we need heroines. Heroines who survive and speak out. Like Pelicot. And like our Lolita.

Are there certain situations or qualities from the performance that you recognize in yourself?

“I recognize myself in the multicolored nature of Dolores' characteristics. The playfulness, the fire, the fighting spirit, the fun, the curiosity, the hunger for knowledge and the world. And the pleasure in discovering sensory experiences—of her body, the world, everything there is to discover in it. And her fire to take the word as a weapon, “vibrating with life,” as Annet Bremen so beautifully put it.”

Keja Klaasje Kwestro zit op schoot bij Joep van der Geest, terwijl hij achterover in een schoolstoel hangt, in fel toneellicht.
F*CK LOLITA
What would you like to convey to visitors of the performance who only know Lolita by name?

“Arrive a little early and take the time to read the wonderful leaflet from Het Zuidelijk Toneel about F*CK LOLITA. And with a bit of luck, you'll see the carefully selected images (on an LED screen in the theater) of how Lolita has been portrayed for decades in films, on book covers, in pop culture, and in photo shoots for films. That's a good image to take with you into the theater.”

Thank you, Silke, for this insight into your theatrical mind. We can't wait for the next performance you are going to create with us!

Currently, almost all performances of this season are sold out. But don’t worry: in September, F*CK LOLITA will return with a new tour. Click the button below for more info & tickets!

Read more about F*CK LOLITA