“Delft Blue is my attempt to salvage some of the sense of feeling, some of the meaning of living in that time. At its heart, it is a play that explores the impossible decisions people must make in impossible times, which seems especially relevant today. And underneath it all is a question about what it really means to resist and to live a good life when the world and everything around us has changed.”
– Andrew Kooman
Synopsis: When Holland falls to the Nazis in May of 1940 after a brief but surprising resistance, Machiel and Sophia van Leeuwen prepare for a long and difficult occupation in a war Holland never dreamed it would enter. Along with their 12-year-old daughter Johanna, they are soon faced with impossible decisions: to choose between resistance and passivity, family and friendship and whether or not the sincere faith they’ve observed with its quiet traditions might now require unthinkable violence.
Production History: In November 2020, Burnt Thicket Theatre presented an online reading of the play to commemorate Remembrance Day and the 75th Anniversary of the liberation of Holland. The reading was online from November 11 – 30.
Andrew has adapted the script to a screenplay, which has garnered early acclaim:
- Finalist, Forest City Film Festival Screenplay Competition (2019)
- Finalist, Pitch Now Screenplay Competition (2019)
- Best Screenplay Nominee, Top Indie Film Awards (2018)
- Semi-Finalist Filmmatic Screenplay Awards (2018)
- Official Selection, Northeast Filmmakers Lab (2018)