Open group
Or to develop further what you know you’ve got! If you want to have one night a week where you can dive into a different world and let all of you out… You’ve found the right place. We also have our own bar where we enjoy after rehearsal chill-outs.
Auditions for our next production are on the 9th of February 2025. See the colum auditions below for more information on the show.
From the 10th of September till the 10th of December 2025 we have our training sessions. Imagine them as extended workshops. All centered around developing your skills to become a compelling stage performer.
The training sessions are great to prepare for the performance and developing your skill.
Whether you have previous experience with some of the techniques or not doesn’t matter. The group is small enough to challenge you as a performer on your level. We have performers that have been with us for years, and every year they develop their skill even more.
Some things you will learn (or further develop if you have previous experience):
Vocal Control
You’ll learn to fully use your core and your body as an instrument for resonance to give power to your speech. (learn the balance between vowels and consonances to free your speech withing technique. Improve your articulation/pronunciation.
Power in Movement
Develop your stage presence, find a good connection between your speech and movement.
Audience connection
Learn to ‘invite’/’draw’ the audience in. Make them part of the story with your speech
Scene/Speech interpretation
You’ll learn how to make Shakespeare’s speeches sound like your own words.
Dynamic staging
Spacial awareness in a scene and how to make acting choices that help bring the story to life.
Character development
The techniques you’ll learn at the training sessions are there to make the character come to life. And make if feel effortless for the viewing audience.
You will learn to connect with your fellow actor and the audience, find depth in the amazing language of Shakespeare and enjoy the exhilarating kick of finding all that you are capable of!
Everyone will be given the same three scenes (Hamlet, Richard III and Julius Ceasar) and can pick one of three monologues to work on. Participants of the training sessions have a guaranteed spot in the performance. You can also choose to only join the training sessions.
We hope you will join us in our cozy and homely workspace for our training sessions that are both fun and challenging. Together we can proudly work on your development develop as a performer.
Below you will find the faces of our 2023/2024 season with a personal quote about their experiences with us.
Richelle II - Show & Auditions
Current production.
We are in the mids of our rehearsals for our next production: Richelle II.
Auditions for our next show will be held in the spring of 2026. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated.
Rehearsal are always on Wednesday Nights from 19:30 till 22:00 at ‘De Roos van Dekamaweg 4’ in Amsterdam. Starting in March till the beginning of July.
Performance dates for our upcoming show are 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th of July 2025 at Cometa in Amsterdam.
About Richelle II
The roles of females in history has usually been one of observance from the sideline where the power lies in the hands of the men. That power dynamic has only recently changed over the last century. Richelle II (orginally Richard II) is about power, about divine right standing opposite to merit. By challenging this in his play, Shakespeare looked at power and kingship with a modern eye. So what if we changed our perspective as well? As this play does?
All the traditionally male parts will be females, playing females, and vice versa. Not king Richard but, Queen Richelle.
The play will explore how these changes affect the audience and our modern-day view.
Meet the group (cast of 2025's Richelle II)
Aroosha
There's a real sense of care in the process here, which makes the work feel
meaningful. It’s been a lot of fun and definitely a different way of working
compared to other production houses I’ve been part of—more collaborative, but still just as thorough and deeply craft-driven.
Even on days when I don’t have a scene scheduled, I’m excited to try a new technique or insight Jo introduces. And the best part? She’s a total Shakespeare nerd, which makes
the deep-dive into the text so much fun!
Bianca
It opened up a whole new world to me: Shakespeare and Jo. Both are so inspiring and gave a new direction in my theatrical development. PAT for me is a place full of creativity, growth and hard work.
Jo is an amazing person filled with knowledge, enthusiasm and endless ways of stimulating, challenging, learning and growing in theater-aspects in general and off course Shakespeare theater in particular. Having their own location creates a welcome home. Their costume and prop collection impressed me, as well as their new creations.
Cheryl
My academically inclined English heart is loving every moment of this Shakespeare experience. Each rehearsal is a workshop and I finally feel like I’ve been given the invitation and tools I was looking for to engage the audience.
This gender-reversed adaptation by Jo is as enlightening as it is entertaining—lines traditionally written for men take on new layers of humour, discomfort and meaning when delivered through a female voice in a matriarchal world.
Daan
"Jo is a very attentive, supportive, and inspiring director, fully committed to her craft. She lives and breathes Shakespeare. She cares about the group a lot, but she also asks for a level of professionalism, seamlessly adjusting her approach to make everyone equally excited and challenged at the same time."
Delphine
Park Avenue Theatre has an amazing ability to bring international theater lovers together. The mix of the different accents , cultures and personalities enlightens the Amsterdam way-of-living and reinforce the feeling of being part of a community.
I never met anyone as passionate as Jo is about Shakespeare. That passion is highly contagious , and enables her actors to explore and work in depth into the understanding and appreciation of this master playwright. Each rehearsal is a full acting class in itself and I have learned a lot through the process.
Diego
My experience with PA has been very good. Every actor in (and everybody involved with) the company is curious and enthusiastic about Shakespeare. Rehearsals are very energetic.
Jo is as much a teacher as a director. She's deeply insightful and knows how to personally motivate and coach us to explore and develop our roles and as actors.
Gaia
My experience has been great and enlightening! I feel like I get to learn so much every time I am in that space. About acting, about connection, about life even. Jo is so open and dynamic and all her exercises make sense, you can see how it all comes full circle.
She has the ability to really guide each and everyone to be their best and you see people blossoming into their character. Shakespeare is hard and she guides us with so much grace and ease.
Jeremiah
The experience of working at Park Avenue theater is pleasant and instructive. Jo is easy to work with and at the same time is always looking to get more from her actors. This leads to a hard working environment but it is not oppressive.
Jo is a very thorough director. She goes very intensively & extensively into the text. It is very apparent that her goal is for the text to lead the actor and for the actor to ''find'' his character by a thorough gleaning & culling of what the text has to offer. The actor obtains a far deeper understanding of how to work with the iambic pentameter
Laura
Everyone in the group is very welcoming and collaborative. Every rehearsal is an acting workshop, with all kinds of techniques and exercises that I hadn't come across before. And Jo as the director is a great combination of patient, fun and kind, but also firm, which means we have fun exploring the plays and characters, learning how to perform Shakespearean verse, but without getting off track from rehearsing. I am learning a lot!
I'm also playing 3 characters, so switching between them and making it clear will be an interesting challenge. I'm looking forward to all of that!”
Ludovisi
It motivates and amuses me spending time with fellow players dedicating their time to acting but also to learn to communicate in a less usual language, ancient English.
Jo is committed, detailed and patient with any single student. She also has humor, that is always welcome. Thanks to her I've learned the importance of connecting directly to the audience instead of just representing a scene as it was on TV or on a screen.
Nikoleta
My experience at Park Avenue is nothing like anything I have done in the
past. Each rehearsal day is very special and feels like a lesson on
Shakespeare, acting, history and, in consequence, life itself. All elements
come together in harmony to help me deeply understand the characters and
the many intricacies of the story.
Jo is a fantastic director to work with. She is able to adapt and
accommodate the creative needs of each actor individually, while making
sure everything runs smoothly. Her deep knowledge on Shakespeare and theater is apparent in
every interaction, exercise and note, allowing us to feel safe and trust
the process.
Omar
This is my first time working with Park Avenue and my experience has been very positive, immediately felt welcome and even in auditions the space felt very safe to show and try out my acting & experiment with it.
Working with Jo has been eye-opening, although i have experience with theater and camera acting it has been my first experience doing Shakespeare and her guidance through exercises and explanation show how passionate she is and easily rubs off on everyone around, I feel it has already given me a lot of new tools for acting and i’m learning a lot working with her!
Stacy
I really enjoy the Park Avenue Theater community, how hardworking yet
fun the people are. The rehearsal process is quite challenging but also
super fun, and I love how it leads to very high quality performances!
Jo is a great director and acting coach. I love how she combines
rehearsals with hardcore acting trainings, and how she constantly
challenges and pushes her actors, making it possible for all of us,
including non-native speakers, to understand, be able to relive Shakespeare
texts, and convey them to the audience.
Teresa
I truly enjoy being part this cast. The environment is creative, supportive and welcoming. Our rehearsals are not only well-organized and efficient, but we also focus on building a team atmosphere, part of an ensemble, Park Avenue is a lovely place to develop as an actor and contribute to amazing, committed and passionate theatre productions.
Working with Jo is a really encouraging and rewarding experience. She takes
the time to give us tools as actors to help us approach scenes, characters,
and text in a way that is inspiring and empowering. She is always available
to talk with us and makes sure we feel confident and comfortable with our creative choices.
Trayana
Two words: freedom and friendship. Park Avenue theater is a playground for creatives who accept all your ideas unconditionally and built onto them with great passion. The safe space Jo and the fellow actors create allows for full freedom to explore you own artistic spectrum. I am beyond grateful to belong to this community and make unforgettable memories.
Jo's vision as a director and a mentor is unmatched. She fosters continuous growth in her actors and interestingly her influence spreads far beyond the stage. Her valuable lessons that mistakes need to be accepted with virtue and spotlight is to be taken without hesitation are as useful during performing as in real life.
