Children's theatre

Many youth theatre performances are made for primary school. More and more often the children go to the theater with a few classes at the same time to watch the performance there.

These performances are often offered to schools by art and culture consultancy firms such as Mocca Amsterdam. They make a selection from the recent youth theatre offer. Some youth theatre groups even play more in schools than in theatres. Other agencies are Kunstcentraal (Utrecht and Central Netherlands), Kunstgebouw (South Holland), Kunstloc (Brabant), Keunstwurk (Friesland). As a starting youth theatre company, you can approach these organisations if you want to play in schools. They want to see a preview of your production first.

The introduction of the subject Culturele en Kunstzinnige Vorming (CKV, cultural and artistic education) has led to a lot of demand for appropriate performances for the various age groups of young people. Students of different years and levels get to know different art forms, partly by visiting theatre productions. It also brings an increase in the amount of productions for young people, for example by ISH. They often combine theatre with music and dance.

Theaterinschool.nl gives an overview of the professional, educational programmes all over The Netherlands. The site is intended for teachers in primary and secondary schools who are looking for information, inspiration and ready-made programmes in the field of theatre. 

There are amateur companies in practically every municipality. There are often also performances made with and for children. Centres for Artistic Education (CKVs) or community centres where acting lessons are given to youth are found in many municipalities. Often these series of lessons end with a small production. 

There are also a number of children’s theatre schools in The Netherlands. Well-known examples are Rabarber in The Hague and Jeugdtheater Hofplein in Rotterdam. Some of these work together with career education and offer preparatory trainings for actor, director or theatre instructor. In Groningen there is De Noorderlingen, where professional productions are made by young people. Meeuw Jonge Theatermakers in Leeuwarden originated from a theatre school for young people.