What were your previous experiences as a director?
I created my first play in 2011 for which I got the idea during the Amsterdam Fringe Festival. I thought: what this director does – that is what I want to do: to have your own view of a play and realize it through various artistic means; for me, that felt like the ultimate artistry. I worked with writer Rinske Bouwman (1988) for that first performance and we created Rauw (2011, de Brakke Grond, Amsterdam). It was about a man who tries to reproduce his actions every day. He ultimately hopes to be able to control his thoughts with this, something in which he naturally fails. However, it doesn’t matter: that failure gives him a human character. He becomes an anti-hero, something the public can identify with the most. My teachers were enthusiastic about Rauw and they let me make my own show as a graduation project. Therefore, I created Niemand in het bijzonder (2011) by Enne Koens. After this project I knew for sure: this is what I want to do.
In 2015, Rinske and I founded TG Tiefschnee. So far we have created and produced five shows. The sixth, Vantablack, will premiere in Utrecht in February 2020. It is a comforting horror show about the first designer baby and his creator. In addition to performances for Tiefschnee, I directed, among other things, the youth performance De Broers, and I worked for The Lunatics on Oerol. During my studies, I had an internship with Toneelgroep Amsterdam, NTGent and Wunderbaum. I worked for Wunderbaum and Stichting Nieuwe Helden. For Corrosia I led De Theaterkijkclub for two years, for which I gave lectures on theater. In addition, I worked with various directors.
One of my colleagues participated in the Directors Lab, which has made me so excited that I decided to submit an application. I was overjoyed when I heard that I was admitted.