Kristel van Montfort

Performance / Projects

• Performance Individual Artistic Research year 1: ‘Banana to the Wall’ - direction.
• Performance Individual Artistic Research year 2: ‘Geboon’ Individual Research 2 - direction.
• Performance Artistic Research in Context year 3: ‘UIterlijk’, in collaboration with MBO Actor Rijnijssel - direction.

Internships

• Stichting Theatergroep Aluin: assistant director.
• De TooropMavo Rotterdam: secondary school internship and paid job - theatre teacher.

During IAR 2, I researched the green bean together with my actors.

This resulted in a fairytale-like setting in which the bean played the leading role in image and sound. Below is a text excerpt from the performance 'Geboon' IAR 2, written by Alice Aëgerter.

‘I have a bean for you. Blushing.’

Good for a card. Blushing.

Good for you. Blushing, good for you, I have a bean.

Ever eaten three things at once?

Bean, bean, bean.

Ever eaten three things at once?

Hop, hop, hop.

Ever cooked three beans at once?

Soaking for eight hours is long enough.

Soaking for seven hours isn't soaking long enough.

Soaking for six weeks is way too long!

Who are you as a creator/artist?

As a creator, I enjoy working with images. I begin research with my performers around a theme, and from there, various theatrical images emerge in my mind. This research takes up a lot of time and space. I want my performers to connect deeply with the theme and with each other. I take the time to see each other in the creative process and allow our shared frame of reference to grow. I then test the visual and audio material that emerges from this research on the stage. This can sometimes turn out quite absurd. Think of a green bean undergoing a cesarean section, or a fisherman fishing an onion out of a cowboy boot. Ever since secondary vocational education (MBO), vegetables and fruits have been a major source of inspiration in my creative work. They are concrete, contain facts, and you can project human aspects onto them. This makes the material diverse. From trivia to far-reaching associations and projections. This way, you quickly connect multiple themes to it, such as the shelf life of things or their uselessness. I admire layering in images, contrasts, and sensuality. I also like to hide elements in images from the attentive viewer. I consider my material successful when people create narratives for themselves. The more those interpretations differ, the better.

How do you define the concept of Artist Educator in Theatre?

As an Artist Educator, establishing genuine connections with others is central to me.

Being mindful of people and things, because those are the greatest sources of inspiration.

What are your ambitions and future plans?

Based on my experiences in secondary education and the affinity I feel for it, I would like to continue working in this sector. It's a target group where connecting is important, something I wrote about in my essay.

I want to continue creating, learning, making theatre, and inspiring. I also work as a singer. I would like to maintain this so that I can continue performing and making music myself. Furthermore, I also feel that anything is still possible. Where there's a way, there's a will. Over the past four years, I've been inspired by all the possibilities our field offers. I want to remain open to this. I want to keep researching, inventing, and innovating.