Trivia

Since 1939, Verkade lived at Huize Klein Boom en Bosch in Breukelen. Writer Adriaan Roland Holst, who was wanted by the Germans in 1940, went into hiding with him until the spring of 1944. During the occupation, Verkade provides lecture evenings at people's homes far into the country.

At the Reinhardt Hochschule in Berlin, Verkade met the theater revolutionary Edward Gordon Craig, whose ideas about acting, decor and lighting made an indelible impression. Together with Willem Royaards, Verkade organized the Summer Games in 1907. Their choice of the noble play Lanseloet by Denemerken and the morality Elckerlyk from the Middle Dutch repertoire opened up a whole new audience.

After his high school education, he left for England at the age of 17, where he studied chemistry at Finsbury College. There he decided to go on the stage.

In addition to his own companies, Verkade also directed numerous student and amateur theater performances.

On May 28, 1947, Verkade's 40th anniversary coincided with his farewell performance in the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg.

Eduard Verkade was a Dutch stage manager, actor and director. He is considered one of the Netherlands' most important actors, directors and theater innovators.

He was a critic at the Groene Amsterdammer, published numerous articles, translated plays, was a teacher at the theater school and, after the war, set up the theater academy with Arend Hauer.

Even back from England in the Netherlands, he heads a textile weaving mill, the theater does not let him go. He directs remarkable amateur performances and achieves success as a performance artist. After lessons with Willem Royaards and Jan C. Vos, he finally exchanged the weaving mill for planks in 1905 and made his debut with the Royal Association Het Nederlandsch Tooneel.

A street in Hengelo and an avenue in The Hague are named after Eduard Verkade.

From 1908, Verkade led his own company De HagePlayers. When financial difficulties arose in 1911, a tour to the Indies provided a solution.

In 1937 Verkade starred in the film based on Shaw's play, Pygmalion and in 1940 in Ergens in Nederland (Somewhere in the Netherlands). Both films were written and directed by the internationally renowned director of German-Jewish origin, Ludwig Berger, with whom Verkade was friends.

He made his debut on October 18, 1904 with William Shakespeare's Macbeth. This led to an engagement with the Koninklijke Vereeniging Het Nederlandsch Tooneel (K.V.H.N.T.), where he made his debut on January 1, 1905 in the Gijsbreght van Aemstel.

In 1935 he married the playwright Eline Françoise Cartier van Dissel, who later worked as a dramaturge for the avant-garde Toneelgroep Studio. In 1978 she published the biography Eduard Verkade and his struggle for a new stage.

He directed his last performance on the professional stage in 1948: a Hamlet for the Hague Comedy with Paul Steenbergen in the title role.

From 1934 to 1938 he played Sinterklaas during the arrival of Sinterklaas in Amsterdam.