About town with... Jacob Derwig
Jacob Derwig is a film and television actor and ensemble member of the Toneelgroep Amsterdam company. He has lived in the Oud Zuid neighbourhood of Amsterdam with his wife Kim van Kooten and their two kids since 2003. Click on the map further down for a better view of streets in the area.
Living in Oud Zuid
It's quiet and spacious, but unfortunately, it's also started turning into a kind of reservation for rich white people.
Theatre
My children - seven-year-old Roman and three-year-old Keetje - tell me the Dutch Marionette Theatre on the Jacob Obrechtstraat is amazing. Myself, I immediately think of the Stadsschouwburg. I can bike to work when I'm in a show there, which is very pleasant. My first time on the Stadsschouwburg stage was in Hamlet, with the Trust company. An excellent way to start.
Music
The Concertgebouw is the obvious answer, and not only because it's just around the corner. In 2005, they let me compile a programme under the name 'The Actor's Choice'.
I picked Rachmaninoff - it was like fireworks on two grand pianos. But also works by Bach, Shostakovich, Chopin and Schumann. And I recited a Chekhov monologue.
Eating out
Scala della Pasta on the Emmastraat do a really good pizza. Made by a proper Italian called Mario. And the kids love their ice cream.
Café
We like to have coffee at Valerius on Valeriusstraat. The coffee is delicious and the staff are really friendly, a welcome change to the arrogance you so often witness in the area.
Film
There aren’t any cinemas around here. However, the TV programme In Therapie was shot here, on my request. I wanted to be able to take my son to school every day we were shooting.
Architecture
I don't go to museums that often, but I reckon the Rijksmuseum is the most beautiful building in the neighbourhood. Especially now that they're working so hard on [renovating] it, you can really see it as if it were created anew. The exterior makes you curious about the new interior.
Delicacies
De Bakkerswinkel on the Roelof Hartstraat has the most delicious scones, cakes and sandwiches. And the sandwiches at Foodware on the Cornelis Krusemanstraat are incredible, and the staff are really friendly, too. Lots of business types go there, though.
Shopping
There’s more choice for women here than men, although I sometimes pick up some decent clothes at Filippa K. on the P.C. Hooftstraat.
Speciality shops
Imagine on the Amstelveenseweg has toys, children's clothing and an in-store kids' hairdresser. They’ve got every sort of present imaginable.
Park
After the recent restructuring, the Vondelpark has become really beautiful, but there's sometimes a strange vibe there these days.
More and more people go there wanting to start a riot - you know, 'all together, be disobedient'. Wasn't there a big fight last April? Didn't surprise me at all. That had been in the air for a while.
Sports
Roman used to play football at the A.V.V. Swift football club on Olympiaplein, but now he plays tennis at TC Kattenlaan. Kim and I take yoga classes at Centrum De Roos on P.C. Hooftstraat. But we like to keep that a secret...
Oud Zuid's hidden secrets
I've seen some apartments here of the kind I thought only existed in Paris. Incredibly spacious, with a lift, a concierge and even a courtyard.
Interview by Anne-Rose Bantzinger
Photo by Liselore Kamping
Translation by Sarah Gehrke
First published in Uitkrant, June 2011
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