With his management office PUURee located next to Meervaart and as a resident of Nieuw-West, Peter Rijsewijk (52) spends a lot of time in our neighborhood. Since 2000, he has also been a regular at our theater: "My special bond with Meervaart began because I gave the very first show I was responsible for at Meervaart. It became even more special when I also got my office space next to Meervaart".

Let's rewind for a moment. Your own management office: how did that come about?
I have always worked in retail where I built up shops. In one of those shops, the girlfriend of comedian Howard Komproe worked for me as staff back then. She invited me to come watch a stand-up comedy show that he was part of.

FreshWagon - part of the Comedytrain – consisted of a group of young 'hip' comedians made up of Murth Mossel, Najib Amhali, Jan Jaap van der Wal, DJ Chainshaw and Howard Komproe. After I came to watch a couple of times, I shared some of my ideas and feedback with Howard. One thing led to another: he discussed my plan with the group and then I started managing FreshWagon, while still running the shop. Eventually Roué Verveer also joined the group and success kept growing. Then I had to make a choice, do I stay at the job I had or did I want to fully focus on the careers of these men? Well, clearly I chose the latter.

In 2002, management office PUURee became a reality and I started focusing on the individual careers of the group. PUURee manages theater artists, especially comedians and cabaret performers. We also produce special plays and musical theater shows.

We hope that next season we can delight the audience with great comedy shows

Are there already grand plans for the new theater season, despite the current uncertain times?
Of course we hope to delight the audience with great comedy shows from, among others, Roué Verveer and Kees van Amstel, but also from some wonderful new talents in the cabaret world. In addition, three musical shows are planned, the new Christmas show by Roué Verveer and there will be a follow-up to the 'Diwali Show' which we had the premiere of last year. Diwali is a special festival day in Hinduism and the show was a huge success!

What is your first memory of Meervaart and which memory do you treasure the most?
Oh, there are several! But I remember the first one very clearly, it's etched in my memory. It was on Sunday, June 4th, 2000. The very first show I was responsible for was playing at Meervaart, a show with FreshWagon and afterwards an afterparty with a DJ. How exciting that was! And then the euphoric feeling afterwards, that it had gone well. That was the start of the fire that began to burn in me, my love for theater.

The first SuriToppers was also one big celebration, a Surinamese musical show full of nostalgia. But I also treasure the first performance of the comedy show with students from Calandlyceum, which we had produced in collaboration with Meervaart. And the first TV recording of Roué's show, that was very special for us too. Oh yes, and our first Surinamese play 'Zit Mooi!'. Wow, what a celebration all of it was..

It was also enormously special for me to be able to rent office space next to Meervaart and later even buy it. And with my view of Sloterplas, it really can't get better than this, it's one of the most beautiful spots in Nieuw-West.

What does your ideal Nieuw-West look like? Do you have a future dream? And what role does Meervaart play in this?
What is special about this neighborhood is of course that all cultures are represented here. For me, who was raised in a Surinamese family and married to a Turkish woman, that is an important aspect. I am happy that my children are growing up surrounded by all these cultures. We have Dutch, Turkish and Moroccan neighbors, who are all equally friendly and our Turkish neighbor cooks delicious food too. I hope this diversity is preserved.

I also find nature very important and sufficient play spaces for children. This must continue to play an important role in the development of Nieuw-West. Besides that, I'm actually quite satisfied, I don't really miss anything. I often think "wow, how beautifully we live".

I'm very happy with the food court on Osdorpplein, ideal for a family with diverse food preferences. There's even a Thai restaurant at Sloterplas now. What more could you want?

As for Meervaart, I hope it remains a cultural center where there is space for young and old and for all nationalities, a place to escape reality for a moment, where you can be captivated and dream away. And the new construction? It would be nice if afterwards I'm no longer just a neighbor, but a resident!

Want to read more stories about unique connections to our neighborhood? Then follow the entire series "The Dream".