Moniek Merkx will step down as director of Maas Theatre&Dans on 3 February this year. She co-founded this Rotterdam company in 2013, which makes theatre for people of all ages. A merger with two other youth theatre houses from the Maas city, it developed under her leadership into one of the most successful and interesting theatre groups in our country. In our podcast, I talk to her for an hour about how that came to be.
On her leadership, for instance, she says: "We all make theatre for youth, so our audiences match. So we should not put our own artistic ego at the centre of the table too much. That has helped. Particularly by not talking about ourselves all the time, but keeping the higher goals in mind, it eventually worked out.'
Not being afraid also helps: 'I have always dared to have solid types next to me. That has been central to me. If you want to lead here, you have to be open to many encounters.'
Musical
The performances Merkx makes are very musical. There is a reason for this: 'When you are an adolescent, pop music is your first introduction to art. When I was an adolescent myself, David Bowie was my big childhood hero. Everything about him was also very theatrical. Later, I also made a performance about the Beatles, but about the phase before they became famous. After all, people are often preoccupied with fame, but not with the road to it. They already want to be. It's much more interesting when you talk about the road.'
As a reviewer, I have sometimes compared her theatre to punk. It started with Suver Nuver, the company where she made some great performances in the late 1980s: rough and spontaneous. 'During the crisis of the 1980s, a whole generation of theatre-makers grew up who didn't necessarily have so many opportunities, had. The baby boomers had the spots, we came after them, so we had to do it from a somewhat more subversive energy.'
Merkx's theatre is 'montage theatre': no set stories, but loose associations and images that still convey a story, but much more loosely. 'Montage theatre is not easy. You lie awake with that. People sometimes seem to think you do it quickly, but you have to work from a certain master plan. I often see people who start it lose sight of their plan, so you don't follow it anymore. Even if there is no story, you have to feel a musical heartbeat in the whole thing. A performance should feel like a composition.'
Schoolyard
The power of youth theatre is often underestimated. Theatre that appeals to children and young people is often also very doable for adult viewers who go to the theatre less often. Or, conversely, very often. The podcast also talks about this: 'There is so much in your daily life that still refers back to the schoolyard where you grew up. That has a sad side too, because no one had the same schoolyard, but I think you keep feeling that resentful child inside you. That's what it's still about, all the way to the Capitol, it's that schoolyard battle that's being fought.'
The fact that youth theatre is still not seen as full-fledged has always stung her , she says: "I have generally not had to complain about attention from the press. I've had my share, I'm proud of that. But for the whole industry, I think it's sad. I put a lot of time into strengthening the emancipation of youth theatre. Youth theatre is the foundation of the whole landscape. That should also have allure, not just small clubs and cheap sets. that should also tour the country with big trucks.
Many adult theatres see a family show mainly as a cash cow. So there is a lot of skewing in the system.'And - ironically: 'Now that there is more money in youth theatre, more men are flocking to it.'
Still: 'It is an honour to make theatre for young people. This is a completely different school of theatre making, which is increasingly penetrating the big companies. The larger theatres are particularly good for young audiences. You can really go all out there with large groups and large sets. I would give it to any maker to have this audience in front of you one day'.
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français 
