De Kleine Komedie

Situated on the Amstel near the Halvemaansteeg, the building offers a stage for both upcoming and established Dutch talents.

In 1784 Henry Hope of Hope & Co. purchased ground on the Amstel near the east side of the Halvemaansteeg in Amsterdam, together with his fellow banker friends Balthazar Elias Abbema, Pieter de Smeth, Henry Fizeaux, Jean Alexander Botereau, and Pieter Muilman.

He tried to raise funds for the American cause and shared revolutionary sympathies, though merchant tradition was to deny political preferences.

The 'Patriotic' or 'Anti-Orange' sympathies of the directors Henry Fizeaux and Jean Alexander Botereau resulted in their stepping down in 1787 when the House of Orange was re-established.

In 1883 the Scottish Missionary Church became too small for the quickly growing number of students and the university bought another building.

In the Fifties and Sixties many famous people in the Dutch entertainment world, like Toon Hermans, Wim Kan and Fons Jansen, made appearances in this theatre.

In 1988 the continued existence of De Kleine Komedie was put in danger again, when the municipality of Amsterdam wanted to withdraw its subsidy.