Making the inhuman human through theatre

Having trained as a youth worker, it appears no coincidence that mental issues crop up repeatedly in the work of Timo Lourens, Theatre in Education finals student at ArtEZ in Zwolle. “I grew up in a safe environment, a huge privilege. Our first 15 years and the things that happen in that time mark us for the rest of our lives. Inequality of opportunity really hurts me and at the same time it is my inspiration as a maker.”

Timo’s perspective on teaching

Timo is spending the final year of his course working on education, research and an artistic product. Briefly, that took him back to Drenthe College, where he was once a student. “As a drama teacher, I taught students where I was once educated myself. I taught them how they can use drama in their social professions and I conducted research into talent development within the college.” Timo doesn't regard himself as a typical class teacher, but he is already teaching in a secondary school one day a week. “I think of it more as coaching pupils. Just as in youth work your role isn't to help the young people, I see teaching more as supporting and coaching pupils in their own journeys."

Learning to take a broader view

For his final performance, Timo was inspired by the film The Father by Florian Seller. “I like the way in which Florian Seller presents the perspective of a man with dementia. In my work, I also like to present situations from a different perspective. Normally, the audience is looking in from the outside, but here you are drawn into his confusion yourself as the viewer. It's great to be able to let the public experience for themselves how it feels to be that person in that situation. Hopefully it will give them something to talk about after they go home."

“I want to build bridges starting from a place of discomfort.”

Timo’s final performance is still in development, but it will definitely have an educational character. “I want to use this perspective on dementia to inform people about care. The story offers ways of dealing with the illness, without just observing how the person is gradually deteriorating. I consider it important to make the inhuman human, to build a bridge between discomfort and reality. We look at others from the outside; it would be good if we were able to put ourselves in their shoes. One person has all the opportunities while another lives on the streets. But we are all human and we all struggle. What do you really want to know about a person who is ill or dying, or is dealing with the social services? I show the unvarnished truth, not a romanticised story.”

Graduating full of confidence

Looking back on the course, Timo sees the four years as a playground of opportunities. “ArtEZ gives you a really good sense of who you are and who you are not as a maker. As a carefree student who liked everything, they gave me the tools to make focused choices. I was given the freedom to experiment, to get things wrong. For a long time I thought I needed to know all the answers by the time I graduated, that I needed to be ‘the finished article’. Now I see this as a starting point from where I will depart full of confidence. I have a box full of tools I can use.”

Embracing freedom

Over the years, the atmosphere amongst Timo’s fellow students changed from competitive to supportive. “It's great to get to that point as a group. At the start, people were really keen to prove themselves, but now we understand each other's roles in the professional field." The first thing Timo is going to do after graduation is travel. “For the ROOTS installation which is currently on view at the Floriade, I interviewed 70 foreign residents of Almere about putting down roots in a new country. That made me curious about my makership in a context other than the Netherlands. After graduating, I am going to embrace freedom, as a human being and as a maker.” 

• Discover more about the Theatre in Education bachelor course in Zwolle
• View Timo’s student page