I managed to catch up virtually with Samir Veen, co-creator of Ontroerend Goed’s latest show Handle with Care and a member of the creative core for the theatre collective. Our conversation, spanning the influence of board games to the power of young people in theatre, was truly inspirational.
Opening by discussing the collective itself, Samir highlighted the importance of Ontroerend Goed’s roots. He explained that “it initially started as a poetry club, reciting poetry for friends and family before [the company] became more theatrical.” These roots expose the company’s practice of using metaphor in their work, taking abstract concepts and, in the words of Veen, “pushing the boundaries” of conventional theatre. This boundary-breaking is what can be framed as “immersive theatre.” A term which can be thrown around in today’s theatrical landscape, Ontroerend Goed highlighted that the immersive nature of their pieces comes as a byproduct; a result of their intense creation process. Really the blueprint of Goed’s performances, running for over 25 years, is “theatre which involves you as a spectator.” Veen mentioned the prominence of this in their previous Fringe hit, Thanks For Being Here, gaining critical acclaim as it filmed the audience throughout the performance, centring on their interaction with the actors onstage.
Crucially, the Fringe helped to kickstart the company. Veen discussed one of the first shows brought to the festival, with only around three audience members which picked up huge acclaim thanks to one reviewer. He stressed the importance of these “hidden gems at the festival” which can be scouted out among the noise of thousands of other shows in Edinburgh’s festival season.
The dynamic, philosophical, and modern shows which this company create brings a unique flavour, and thus it was interesting to hear how the ideas are actualised for the performances. Veen explained curtly that “Alexander(the artistic director of the company) makes them up.” He underlined that these are “a spark” which slowly, under development and exploration become a fleshed out performance. The focus is placed on “coming up with ideas not making theatre” for Artistic Director, Alexander Deveriendt, as Veen noted he is inspired by theatre happening in the real world, such as at the European leaders summit. These ideas are then “tried out with students” at a Dutch drama school where a prototype is created for shows, and members of the company can evaluate the show’s potential. Gifting young people with this platform for experimentation is so refreshing especially from such an esteemed collective.
Moving on to discuss the piece which is arriving in Edinburgh this August, Handle with Care, Veen described the piece as quite plainly “theatre in a box.” The group “send a box to different theatres” (already having travelled around the world already) and “45 audience members must work out what to do with this box.” This is a unique concept of storytelling, where the audience are in fact, the creative individuals, instead of the performers; there are no actors in the room, technicians, or creatives. It is just a box and forty-five audience members.
Discussing this unique method of performance, Veen noted that “this is the most extreme show we’ve done form-wise.” He emphasised how board games were key to the creative process for this puzzle of a show. In the creative process “they played a lot of board games…sometimes only one round.” Storytelling is harnessed through this board game basis, as he highlighted “every board game has a good story” and then there is also this feeling that someone in time created “these rules.” Ontroerend Goed become the mystery board-game master in Handle with Care, not watching their performances just depositing audiences with this show. Even made clear that this mystery interaction is exciting for the company but that the show itself “is not a board game.” What is highly interesting is that there are very few audience members who think creatively and this creates something “untheatrical” which is what Ontroerend Goed are excited by.
Importantly, Handle with Care, travels around the globe and acknowledges the time, space, and location outside of the auditorium. Veen emphasised the fact that Ontroerend Goed don’t rely on “suspension of disbelief” but quite the opposite. They don’t “believe in fiction.” They would rather “say something about the world we live in” here and now by acknowledging the world outside the performance space. They try to “never pretend the outside world doesn’t exist.” Thus, their shows expand on the ordinary and breaks boundaries. This Fringe, it’s all about making theatre real with one box and a room, and most importantly 45 audience members.
Handle With Care is showing 24th-30th August at ZOO Southside
Images Copyright Above Eva Vermandel and Below Joëlle Desmet
