About
Our foundation is respect, trust, and commitment. This goes for everything: the play and the people. We aim to create a safe place to learn, to grow as an actor and to enjoy every moment in the process.
Our projects so far have been focused around the work of William Shakespeare. We feel his plays have everything; endless depth in text, truth, and humor. The workshops, currently, are the only place where we use contemporary text as well.
All of our shows have the same mission: To make the story come to life for the audience and to make them feel part of it in a uniquely accessible way.
A Word from our Director
"I have known that I wanted to be in theater since before I can remember. My grandmother told me that I performed ‘something’ on every-single-birthday. Whether it was playing the flute, singing or putting on any other kind of show, something was always to be expected. That urge to create never stopped.
For the last couple of years, I’ve been putting plays on stage with that never-ending passion. None of the projects I ever worked on were funded, so everyone always rolled up their sleeves and got to work. That makes for a special connection. My husband sewing costumes with the cast, my wedding garland was used in a show before we even got married, during kings day I always carry a list of props to the flea market and everyone in the cast comes up with stuff from everywhere to create our magic on stage. It’s very much a community thing to put on a show."
Meet the Creatives Behind
Park Avenue Theater
Jo van der
Meij
Jo is the heart of Park Avenue, she not only has a passion and love for Shakespeare and Theater but also for every single person she works with. From a short private lesson in her own time to help a player with stage fright to the altering of exercises during rehearsals to get the most out of an actor. Everyone feels heard and trusted when working with her.
Jo graduated from the ‘Amsterdamse Theater Academie’ with her own Cabaret show in 2009. Masterclasses at the renowned Stella Adler Acting Studio in New York followed and after a short period in London, working on small film projects, she was back in the Netherlands. She joined The Dutch Factory, participated in many masterclasses, and played (lead) roles in ‘Romeo & Juliet, MSND, and Richard III and has done a variety of shows as an actress. Jo directed ‘real-life games’, several tutorial video’s for companies, short films and thirteen plays, many of which she (extensively) edited and two that she wrote herself.
Karsten Baan
Karsten can best be described as the man that can make something out of nothing. During the many years of collaborating with him, the budget wasn’t always on our side. But, where there is a will, there's a way. Sets with trees, houses and magical tables as well as countless costumes were fabricated by him. We, as Park Avenue Theater are extremely grateful that together with Karsten we can create new worlds every single show.
Karsten graduated from both Kunst Cultuur (2005) and the Amsterdamse Theater Academie (2010). One of his many projects is the design and production of elaborate costumes for stilt-walking artists and as such his creations can often be admired at festivals. As an artist, he frequently works on one of his many side-projects such as D&D attributes, leather notebooks, belts, puppets for shows and many other things.
Solange Husson
We found out that “You complete me” was not just for Jerry Maguire. We have been blessed with Solange joining our team. She brings qualities to the table that help us grow. With neverending enthusiasm and her razor-sharp mind she is getting Park Avenue ready for the future. Together with Jo she’s fine-tuning our website and working on our marketing. And we get to enjoy her talents on stage as well. SCORE!
Solange is currently studying Media and Culture with a minor in Cultural Management at the University of Amsterdam. She was in charge of the production of two student films and after having a taste of that she started working for Jo as her production assistant. After a course in Arts Management, she got more intensively involved in the creation of PAT. She plans, pitches and plots out the future of PAT with passion.