Nilgün Yerli shows Onbeperkt Genieten in the Philharmonie (Photo: Nilgun Yerli website)

Nilgün Yerli shows Onbeperkt Genieten in Stadsschouwburg (7 May)

“Pooping is also a form of enjoyment, but nobody appreciates it, you take it for granted”.  Tomorrow evening Nilgün Yerli shows “Onbeperkt Genieten” (Unlimited Enjoyment) in Stadsschouwburg theatre in Haarlem.

In this piece Nilgün Yerli shows extraordinary stories, in which humor and emotion are beautifully interwoven. She is both poetic and critical. When did you really enjoy something for the first time? There are people who can not remember their first moment of joy. What does joy mean? A free cup of coffee during a train trip? Or luxury nuts with a drink? We are filled with moments of joy. But also still craving for the joy of that warm feeling from inside that you get when someone puts a smile on your face. Unlimited Enjoyment is a performance that you should see, to enjoy yourself.

Nilgün, also an expat in Haarlem

Nilgün Yerli was born in 1969 in Turkey. At the age of ten she moved with her parents to the Netherlands. She grew up in the Frisian village Heerenveen. Her parents returned to Turkey when Yerli was fifteen years old. She moved to Haarlem, where she went to High School and provided herself with several part-time jobs. With a friend, she started the duo Turkish Delight. Later she performed as Turkse Troel (Turkish Tart/Cow). She also wrote a fixed column in the newspaper Parool. In 2000 Yerli started to perform solo with Wat zeg ik? (What do I say?)

Many records in her career:

Books

  • Turkse Troel: columns (2000), (columns)
  • De Garnalenpelster (2001), (novel)
  • Acht jaargetijden (2002), (columns)
  • Mezelf geworden, (2004) (columns)
  • Weg van Nederland (2005)
  • Wie ben ik? (will be published in May 2014)

Shows

Turkish Delight
  • Vooroordelen (1993)
  • Nog één keer vooroordelen (1994)
  • Nog steeds vooroordelen (1995)
Solo
  • Wat zeg ik (2000)
  • Vreemde Vreemdgangers (2001)
  • Held op blote voeten (2003)
  • BangBang (2005)
  • De adem van Eva (2009)
  • Weer met Henk (2011)
  • Onbeperkt Genieten (2014)

(Source: Wikipedia)

My opinion

I used to be a very big fan of Nilgün. I got Turkse Troel for my birthday. With these words of my Dutch friend: “The writer speaks about expat life experiences in the Netherlands. You are Italian, she’s Turkish, both with a  Mediterranean background, you will recognise the whole stuff”. Mad of the “it’s six of one and half a dozen of the other feeling”, I didn’t open the book for a while. Then I did. Great! I loved it! “A birthday calendar in the toilet”, “going Dutch with the bill”, “boterhamworst om een augurk”. Habits and language incongruencies, prejudices and misunderstandings: it was really funny. And recognisable. Indeed. I read almost all of Nilgün’s writing and I went to almost all of her shows. Seeing her perform was even better than reading her pieces: such energy and passion! I had an amazing evening when my friend Irena invited me to Nilgün’s show and dinner afterwards with her, her boyfriend, Nilgün and a few others. Talking about Dutch weirdness with a complicit and affectionate tone of voice (joking and joking but we both still live in the Netherlands). And about Haarlem, of course!

Till Weer met Henk. A bit of the same.

Maybe I should go tomorrow to see the newest Nilgün. Tickets are still available.

Where, when, what time, which price and where to book?

  • At Stadsschouwburg theatre in Haarlem
  • May 7 2014, 20.15h p.m.
  • Between € 15-€ 21 without reduction