MARIA VAN BRABANT - Empress, abbess, party animal Maria van Brabant Empress, abbess, party animal is a song program, produced by music theater Hollands Diep from Dordrecht, in which Cora Schmeiser and Daan Verlaan take the audience to the house of Maria, where she organized legendary evenings full of food, drink, and music 800 years ago. Who was Mary? The early part of her long life was dominated by the men who exercised power over her, including her father, a Sicilian king, a German emperor, and even the Pope. Only after Count Willem, her second husband, gave her the city of Dordrecht as a wedding present in 1220, she was finally able to organize her life according to her own design with the proceeds from this. As patroness of Dordrecht, she started a women's movement avant la lettre, separated herself from society with her noble ladies and opened her large house to evenings full of play, music, art and culture. She supported Troubadours, the singer-songwriters of her time, who gave her a place in their songs as a thank you. The program includes music from Mary's time with repertoire from the Guuthuser Songbook, songs on text by Hadewijch, Walter von der Vogelweide and Gregorian chant. Cora Schmeiser – vocals, hurdy-gurdy, percussion Daan Verlaan – vocals, harp, nun's violin Earlier, in June, July, September and October 2021, the slightly modified performance under the title 'Roadshow 800' was played thirty times in drop-in centres, care homes, educational institutions, parks and playgrounds in (and around) Dordrecht. Maria van Brabant is a production by Muziektheater Hollands Diep under the direction of David Prins.