Although only 22, Nina is an accomplished and daring playwright

Pueppi is a sharply observed play which uses physical theatre, dance and contemporary pop music as well as traditional dialogue to shake up our passive acceptance of our highly sexualised culture. Engaging with several schools of theatre and making their techniques her own, Pueppi is a remarkably assured play for one so young, making it clear that de la Parra is a talent to watch.

From her first acting experience at 14 Nina knew the theatre was where she belonged, leading her to set up her own theatre group at 17, for which she wrote, directed and produced three plays. After she left school she spent a year studying drama in Stratford-upon-Avon. Her writing led her to her being approached by a publisher, which helped give her confidence in pursuing her dreams.

Even though she is still at university, (she is studying English Literature and German at Edinburgh University), Nina is already making waves on the theatre scene. As well-travelled as she is well-heeled, Pueppi is Nina’s first full-length play in German, her third language after her native Dutch and impeccable English.

Nina, your command of languages is impressive. Did you travel a lot growing up?

I lived in Amsterdam until I was 18, although for at least 4 months every other year me and my mother used to live in countries like India, Indonesia, Tanzania and Vietnam, as well as me living with my father in Suriname (in South America). I went to a cool creative high school in the centre of Amsterdam, where I met a lot of super-intelligent and highly artistic/creative friends, who are my friends for life.

Do you find that your multi-cultural background informs your work?

When I’m doing a show in the UK, I’ll make sure that everything is still enough “in the box” for it to be accepted by the British audience. In Berlin things are much more experimental, and I can get away with a lot more wacky shit without it being called “alternative”. I also tend to have quite an international cast, and I always give people from other countries the chance to be in my shows, even if their accents are absolutely impossible to follow. I’ll just give them a totally physical, non-speaking part.

Pueppi reaches its dramatic climax

What is your favourite play or production of all time?

This is very tough. I absolutely love Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, although I’ve never seen it performed. At the moment I’m pretty obsessed with two great productions in Berlin: Die Dreigroschenoper by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, directed by Robert Wilson for the Berliner Ensemble, and Hamlet, directed by Thomas Ostermeier for the Schaubühne. It makes sense, since Bertolt Brecht and Shakespeare are two of my favourite playwrights of all time.

What inspires you about the theatre today?

The physicality of a lot of modern theatre is hugely inspiring to me: I usually work in a very physical way with my actors, and I take a lot of my inspiration from Jacques Lecoq, the founder of physical theatre. Examples of physical theatre groups: I love the British theatre group Kneehigh, and the French/British group Footsbarn.

Which European city is closest to your heart and why?

Amsterdam. I was born there, my mother and my sister live there, and I have a lot of friends who are still living there. I love the aesthetics of the town, and I will always see it as my hometown, my base, to which I can always come back.

Which women do you look up to?

My sister and my mother. They are amazing, strong women, who have always known what they wanted and they worked extremely hard to get where they are now. I have immense respect for the way they have pursued their careers, and I can only be inspired when I look at them. As far as “famous” icons, I seem to like (young) women who are either mentally instable or slightly autistic: Virginia Woolf, Amy Winehouse, Joana Newsom, Regina Spektor.

What is next for you after Pueppi?

In November 2009 I will direct a big production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew for Theatre Paradok, and in February 2010 I will direct Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck. Both productions will be in Edinburgh.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Absolutely no idea. I could be doing crazy shows in some attic in London (Soho), or I could be studying directing the theatre school in Amsterdam, or doing performance art in some obscure gallery in Berlin. Who knows?