DRAMA
PAGLIACCIO (Idea, Concept, Playwright, Stage Direction)
" Organized chaos ". That characterizes the theater pieces of Annechien Koerselman. " A typical Koerselman is sexual, energetic and with a lot of guts ". [...] She loves romanticism, passion and clear statements- Pagliaccio, the new theatre production of stage director Annechien Koerselman (1976) is full of them.
De Volkskrant, Truus Ruiter
LAND OF OVERSEAS (Idea, Stage Direction, Musical dramaturgy, Set- & Videodesign)
The stage director about her approach to the exchange of letters: "as a kind of Junglevisitor, armed with an axe I have plowed the text in finding where the music had to come in and how this was supposed to sound like. So I wrote Wiek: I wanted to let the leitmotiv from Beautiful Anna return, but also add a leitmotiv for the daughter. Also, I have asked him to compose a native American dance. I also have added a number of Glenn Miller, a country song and a song about poverty. "
PZC, Ali Pankow
THE HOUSE OF THE FUTURE (Concept, Stage adaptation, Stage Direction, Musical composition)
The performance reflects perfectly the life motto of Koerselman as well. " The moment you die, it helps I think, not having the feeling you have lived your life cowardly. The siamese twins does that in any case and I myself, also try to avoid walking the familiar paths and always meet a new challenge."
De Telegraaf, Esther Kleuver
MUSICTHEATRE
BEAUTIFUL ANNE (Stage Direction & Musical dramaturgy)
During the first reading of the piece Koerselman noticed, she was the only one of the cast/crew that occasionally had to laugh. She credits it to her sense of perspective that she recognizes in all disaster still the humor in life. " Moreover, I like people, who are not easy brought to their knees, but despite setback continue to perservere. This also applies to Anna. She does not allow her life to stagnate. Despite much adversity her story offers a lot of humor ", as the stage director mentioned.
PZC, Ali Pankow
MOULIN ROUGE (Idea, Concept, Stage Direction, Playwright, Musical composition & Producer)
With her exuberant style of making music theater Koerselman acts straight against the contemporary Zeitgeist. " We live in a society which is ruled by managers. Today's world is about doing business, everything has to be correct. We are being re-educated by companies, CEO's and the Government. They act like we have collectively attended the Waldorf school and cannot think [or take responsibility] for the whole. That [political] accusation that we [artists] are hobbyists of the left wing, is the epitome of this. As if we were slacking off [...] What those managers do not want to accept, is that things sometimes just don't add up in life. I find a makeshift life, with all the setbacks which come along with it, fun. I believe in fairy tales. I dream of Moulin Rouge. She hopes the public that is going to see her Parade opera will come out more romantic and more nostalgic. Because life is meaningless. It is the stories of people who experience something, which get through it, which makes life hopeful. As soon as Mimi is dancing on stage, it is a life-or-death situation. Nowadays that is impossible. That people still stand for a life to the death. "
TheaterMaker, Vincent Kouters
OPERA
DIJKDRIFT (Stage Direction)
Because what is this piece about, Koerselman asked herself " the plot is very basic and is getting more gruesome. But as Jesus was capable of forgiveness, a man also should be able to show resilience: we have dealed with a lot of trouble, but life goes ón. I want a plea for resilience. "
NRC, Floris Don
GOLD (Stage Direction & Lightdesign)
" The composer, the librettist and I have developed the piece jointly from the start ", stage director Koerselman explains. " Flora came up with a proposal for a scene, Leonard let himself being inspired to compose, but first witnessed [in the rehearsal room], how I wanted to put everything on stage. Such very close cooperation is unusual. "
Berliner Morgenpost, Martina Helmig
CAN YOU WHISTLE, JOHANNA? (Stage Direction & Lightdesign)
" Often, performances for children are about animals or fantasy characters. The great thing about our material is that it is a story about people, a family history to which everyone can relate. [...] Someone dies, and yet the story is not about death, but about life and (human) relationships."
Deutsche Oper Magazine 2013, Nr. 4
ON THE WHOLE
In the column "Child Stars" we find out how it is with children from good old TV series and movies. How is the 'chicken, fries and applesauce-girl' from 'Children for Children' doing? This girl is called in real Annechien Koerselman (40), she still can sing and now works as a stage director in theater, music theatre and opera.
Music was always a part of my life and it is still now. I am very happy about my profession and that it is behind the scenes. The good thing is that my voice still is in order and that I can play well myself (I've attended the academy of dramatic arts), which helps a lot in staging. When people stand on stage, I can get them to greater heights. I love to have an overview. I don't have the need anymore to stand in front of the camera.
Linda, Martine Findhammer-Schut, 10 maart 2017