Only You
ONLY YOU is a 45 min musical storytelling show performed by Pleun van Vliet and Erik Sjøholm. The making of the show was funded by the Performing Arts Fund NL.
ONLY YOU premiered on September 25th 2021 on the lovely streets of Amsterdam.
View the trailer of the show here.
© Photos by Alborz Sahebdivani
The Show
A fiery young writer in danger of burning up untimely, and an extinguished moviestar who never really got to shine.
Both have searched hopelessly for that one thing, dwelling through the rooms of life as being lost in an endless hotel. And time seems to be running out.
Was it an accident they met, that forlorn night along the Amsterdam canals? Their momentous encounter fuels inspiration for a lifetime, creates a memory they never forget, and revives a possibility that seemed already dead.
In the end they both know: there is only one thing you need to rekindle the flame. A thing that is not there yet, but that you can envision, and want to create
ONLY YOU is about that one thing.
The Making Of
This heartwarming project started with Pleun receiving a telephone call from a friend, an old lady writer, who was upset: she got struck by inspiration at the very moment she was prepared to end her life!
This was a woman who had “lived deep and sucked the marrow out of life”, as Thoreau once wrote. Now, she was sick and done. But just as she was about to leave, life pulled her back from the threshold once more.
This lady writer took up the challenge with vigour, she started to write the book that was still breathing inside her. It was a breathtaking race against the clock. Would her body allow her to finish the book?
Pleun told Erik about the lady writer, and we decided to make a story honoring such burning vitality. A love story, it should be. But who could be the classical interest, except life itself?
By fortuity, the American actor Jack Palance turned up in the tale. Despite his formidable physique and beauty, this meek man had become half-famous for always playing the ‘bad guy’ in supporting roles. He was the ideal antipode for the inflammable, heroic leading part of Mrs. Bright, as we came to call our lady writer.
Then it got even better… As Pleun visited expensive hotels to explore the site where Jack could have stayed when he met Mrs. Bright, she encountered Niels, the head concierge of five star Hotel The Grand in Amsterdam. He revealed to her the secret of his mysterious job: making people happy by seizing the right moment to give them a memory they’ll never forget. A third character in the story was born.
It must have been providence itself that made the municipality of Amsterdam agree to perform our show live on the streets, just like it must have been more than luck that we met a sweet girl on the streets with exactly the right kind of fur coat we needed for the show, and she let us borrow it!
All we needed then were the ingenious cardboard theatre seats made for us by Kartent, a director who understood how to put them together, and a real Norwegian Forest Cat (another star character in our story) appearing live on the scene during our performance.
How wonderful these first performances were. We sure found our ‘one thing’ that day!
Credits
Concept, text & performance: Pleun van Vliet
Music & lyrics: Erik Sjøholm
Stage direction: Stefan van Wieringen
Photography: Alborz Sahebdivani
Many thanks to: Harrie Boele, Niels Essink, Lotta Isopuro, the people from Kartent, Maike Koolhaas, Paula, H.K., and Jack Palance.
Booking Information
ONLY YOU is performed by Pleun van Vliet and Erik Sjøholm.
ONLY YOU is a 45 min musical storytelling show that is played without a break. Depending on the wishes and needs of the client, more or less, and specific interaction with the audience can be added.
ONLY YOU can be performed in either Dutch or English.
ONLY YOU can be performed on stage, but is also very suitable for creative (outdoor) and private locations.
Depending on the size of the audience and the location, ONLY YOU needs amplification for two voices and a guitar.
ONLY YOU is not suitable for small children.
Upon request.
Prices for artistic performances include 9% VAT.
Prices for performances in the context of seminars and conferences include 21% VAT.
ONLY YOU©2021 is an original and personal work, conceptualized and written by Pleun van Vliet and Erik Sjøholm.
By the Dutch Copyright Act (Auteurswet) copyrights for the complete text as well as significant, recognizable findings and parts of the text, and all kinds of visualization of the performance (including photographs and videos for promotional purposes) finally reside with the authors.
It is forbidden by law to copy, distribute, print or publish any written transcripts, quotes from, or pieces of ONLY YOU©2021, or photos or videos of its performances without written permission of the authors.
For questions about copyrights of ONLY YOU©2021, please contact the authors via stories@mindtraveller.nl.