THE BOY WHO WAS RAISED AS A DOG

SELECTED WORKS THEATRE

"Since I can talk, I can get up normally; but falling only hurts since I can talk; but the pain of falling is half as bad since I know I can talk about the pain; but falling is twice as bad since I know people can talk about my falling; but falling doesn't hurt at all anymore since I know I can forget the pain; but the pain never stops since I know I can be ashamed of falling."

- Peter Handke, "Kaspar"

Kaspar was raised as a dog and is now finding his way in the world as a human. His complex journey holds a unique opportunity for reflection. He stands at the crossroads of two worlds: while discovering his life in human form, his time among dogs remains the foundation. That is his perspective. But his current life raises a question that goes deeper than his own identity. What does it mean to be human?

Kaspar's experiences, rooted in the unconditional love and simplicity of the dog existence, cast a shadow over the complexity and pain of human existence. Kaspar is forced to confront the paradoxes of human emotions and relationships. And in this struggle, he might find the key to a deeper understanding of the eternal question of happiness.

Fotos: Robert van der Ree, Sam Yates, Joelina Spiess

Year
06/2024

Concept/Director Joelina Spiess Light Design Devon Hoopman Sound/Music Design David Knap Production Pleun Swart Dramaturgy Lea Hegemann Performers Krisjan Schellingerhout, Meriç Tuncer Helping Hand/Yeti Arthur Buchholz Operator David Knap, Charlie Smeets Helping Hands Danielle, Esther Video Corneliu Ganae Video Edit Joelina Spiess

under guidance of Olivier Diepenhorst

TILL DEATH DO US PART

"A thousand times we have died A thousand times we have risen Have we now earned the right to love for life?"

In "Till Death Do Us Part," Julia and Romeo carry hundreds of years of performance history with them. They have developed an unhealthy obsession with romantic love, which repeatedly drives them to the brink. Two characters, based on the most famous couple of all time, are searching for a love that heals instead of wounds. Can they leave their traumatic past behind? "Till Death Do Us Part" is a performance about destructive relationships that explores how we are still dependent on love, how our self-worth and identity are still shaped by the other, the ultimate togetherness. When it seems as if you can only exist for and through the other, and even death appears as an escape to maintain that immense, uncompromising, and immortal love, then something is fundamentally wrong. Two lovers confront self-destruction, shame, and their obsession with each other and love. How far will they go "in the name of love"?

Fotos: Robert van der Ree

Year
03/2024

Concept/Director Joelina Spiess Scenography/Costumes Luka Viool Light Design Charlie Smeets Sound/Music Design David Knap Production Wouter Stoppelenburg Technical production Sietse van der Wal Dramaturgy Rinke Brans Text Dane Schippers Performers Giulia Reiss, Felix Schellekens Video Sjoerd Derine, Corneliu Ganea Video Edit Joelina Spiess

under guidance of Erasmus Mackenna and Olivier Diepenhorst

PEOPLE LIKE YOU NEED TO FUCK PEOPLE LIKE ME

"People like you need to fuck people like me" is a performative audio play in which the audience is invited to immerse themselves in the inner and outer world of a young woman with depression. Synje, a woman in her mid-twenties, is the fictional director of this event. She has invited the audience to her last supper - a three-course dinner where she never appears, with the aim of getting to know her. Instead of three dishes, she serves three answering machine sequences in which all the people around her can be heard, those who love her and worry about her, but ultimately, in their hopelessness, only increase the pressure on Synje. Slowly, over the course of the three courses, the audience gets the idea that these people are talking to someone who has significant mental health problems. Between the three courses, as an intermezzo, a three-piece band plays songs written by the fictional protagonist Synje herself. Her external world, the people who speak to her through the answering machine, is in direct contrast to her inner world - embodied by the band in the form of experimental songs expressing her anger, sorrow, and emptiness, the feelings of depression.

Year
12/2022

Concept/Director Joelina Spiess Scenography/Costumes Kevin Pieterse Sound/Music Design David Knap Text Mirte Koerts Performers David Knap, Luka Schuurman, Elisa Maayeshi

under guidance of Erasmus Mackenna and Kevin Pieterse

Year
03/2021

Concept/Director Joelina Spiess Sound/Music Design David Knap Light/Video Design Charlie Smeets Voice Jay Chia Performers Wiktoria Kolcon, Ugne Irena Laurinaviciute, Nara Goncalves, Maira Darja Horvath, Arthur Buchholz

under guidance of Quirine Racké and Helena Muskens

SKYLLA AND CHARYBDIS