Adriënne Solser, with music by Henriëtte Bosmans

Silent Women

Jan 27 2024 • 4 mins

I was born in a revue company stage
My family worked in the theatre always
I sang and performed from a very young age

I was quite determined, never in a daze
The Netherlands was my place of expression
My life was articulate in many ways

Three husbands, some kids, and show-biz accession
I even lived in Pretoria for a time
I enjoyed an effective working session

Eureka, the movie company, was mine
My son André was at the head of management
Lien, my daughter, any task she could align

My films were all about Bet, the corpulent
She was bossy with her henpecked husband Hein
Their physical imbalance caused amusement

It could be compared to the Nursery Rhyme
Where Jack ate no fat and his wife ate no lean
The comedic buildup was utterly prime

Since betwixt them both they licked the platter clean
My screen character debuted in variétée
She made people laugh in every vaudeville scene

Thus, I brought my Jordaan-genre to the ciné
It mocked some locals from the Dutch Capital
It was about the Jordaan neighborhood cliché

My acting style was somehow biographical
It was a tribute to Lion, my brother
He took his own life and it was tragical

Art can transform pain into something other
The Adriënne Solser hallmark was social farce
Constructive satire I would never smother

My live-act in synch with the screen was a force
I adored the multidisciplinary
My fiction had a pragmatical discourse

My method was close to documentary
Since I was often shooting on location
In the midst, life’s joys were transitionary

On one end I got my standing ovation
On the other I lost my son suddenly
Pneumonia hit him and left no salvation

My grief made me plunge into work entirely
In my film, Bet trained for the Olympic Game
It was in 1928 precisely

That my city, Amsterdam, hosted the flame
Women were allowed to join for the first time
I was at the height of my success and fame

Later on, my jubilee was so sublime
For my sixty years in the performing arts
I felt swept away by my own pantomime

It was 1943 in fits and starts
But later that year I was pushed off a train
It was like being tossed from some high ramparts

I went to hospital for a femur sprain
Doetinchem is where I was stationed to mend
Alas, how I longed for a glass of champagne.

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