Nature Theatre De Kersouwe

At the end of 1945, 20 ladies and gentlemen, including seven White Canons (Norbertine monks), met in Heeswijk Abbey to establish artist collective Kunstkring Heeswijk. This company was given the name De Kersouwe, the word for daisy in the old regional dialect. In 1946, the collective performed an open-air play. Open-air theatre made it possible to perform in mixed groups; at the time there was a strict bishop's rule that only one mixed club per parish was allowed to play in an auditorium. Mixed performances in the open air were allowed by the bishops if they ended before sunset. The first performances were Biblical plays, mainly played by Heeswijk and Dinther locals. Within three years the biblical plays of De Kersouwe became known nationwide.
Between 1950 and 1958, De Kersouwe had well-known writer Antoon Coolen as its own playwright. Coolen wrote seven original pieces for De Kersouwe. The biblical plays were replaced by fairy tales and stories about knights and led to sold out theatres. Year after year, Norbertine monk Michiel van Helvert designed a beautiful medieval decor. The theatre is only open for performances.