In this project I applied my research into accessible sensory theatre to my own design process. I looked at how I could make an immersive performance that was accessible for deaf and hearing impaired people, in which scenography and sensory stimulation could carry the narrative. My subject is personal and an explicitly sensory experience: the sea.
In ‘Marifoonberichten’, sailor and author Toine Heijmans writes about the North Sea. A grey, rough, ‘working sea’, an endless place whose unpredicatability offers ultimate freedom, rhythm, and rest in the focus on survival. I too experience a great desire to be part of this sea, to be unknowing, lost and free.
Taking inspiration from ‘Marifoonberichten’ and my own experiences, in this piece I explore the emotional and physical feeling of the sea. The experience is made of four flowing parts: Open Sea, Storm, Fall and Floating. Throughout these different phases I play with light, scent, wind, balance, proximity, sound and vibration, exploring the possibilities of visual and sensory storytelling.

Artist statement

My working practice is an intimate one. I am exploring my place in the world, making scenographic performances as a tool for observation, community and action. I seek out diverse collaborations and research through conversation, embracing the subjectivity of an oral history and looking to find connection in stories. I am influenced in both my content and execution by social and political issues such as sexuality, equality and accessibility.
These themes can be seen in performances in which scenography is leading. Where the visuals are the starting point and the process allows for fluid multidisciplinary development. I create minimalist, multifunctional spaces to support detailed interventions. Spaces where sensory experiences, puppetry, shadow work, object theatre and dance can take place.
In my most recent work I am exploring physical presence as central to the theatrical experience. What does it mean to have your audience in the space with you? How can sensory stimulation create a more immersive experience as well as make the work more accessible?
How does an intimate practice create an intimate experience?

Ambitions

In the next years I hope to continue to make theatre, taking on different roles but always with scenography as the centre and starting point. I hope to keep working with my classmates, individually and as a collective, on both existing projects and new ones. I intend to continue my education at Utrecht University, with the masters programme Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy.

Learned during the studies

The most important thing I have learnt during my time at the HKU is how to get ideas out of your head and into the world, from visualisation and communication to practical problem solving and effective collaboration.

Sense and Accessibility

Theatre has become an art-form that is no longer defined by the spoken word, yet text remains at the top of its internal hierarchy. When we dismantle these traditional conventions we open ourselves up to the possibilities provided by sharing the performance space with the audience. By considering the full range of an audience member’s sensory perception we can activate a response beyond imagined empathy for characters observed from a distance. By bringing the audience into the experience it truly becomes a shared one. When ultimate importance is taken away from the spoken word you also make a piece accessible for those who may experience the world differently, such as those who are deaf/hearing impaired.
By looking at the work and processes of those already making sensory and accessible theatre and challenging myself to do the same, I have analysed what we need to think about when approaching theatre from this perspective, and why it’s so worthwhile.