Jam Karet, a performance about identity and the desire to be allowed to start again

From 16 October to 21 December MATZER Theatre Productions tours the country with Jam Karet, a duet for language and body. Melissa Knollenburg directs the hopeful and energetic performance with actress Kyra Bououargane and dancer Romee van de Meent. The premiere is Saturday 18 October at De Verkadefabriek, Den Bosch.

Varo wakes up in a psychiatric clinic with no memories of who she is or where she came from. Her only holdouts are fragments from the past: a song by her father, a stolen marble. As doctors grope in the dark, Varo dives deeper and deeper into her memory and discovers memories that might have been better forgotten. What is left of yourself when you have lost everything?

Jam Karet is a performance about identity and the desire to be allowed to start again. Actress Kyra Bououargane and dancer Romee van de Meent together shape Varo's inner world - a place full of dark humour and imagination, where time seems to stand still. An interdisciplinary journey through the life of an adult woman, in which the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur.

Director Melissa Knollenburg (1994) exposes in her work how a young generation of bicultural Dutch people relate to society. Her characters are looking for connection and ways to ground themselves in a divided world. Dance - alongside language - plays a major role in her work. Knollenburg: "I learned as a child that daydreaming was a way to escape clashes. I was not Dutch, but also not Indonesian enough to really belong somewhere. For a long time, I thought I fell in between, until I realised that there was actually a third culture - one in between my parent cultures. In that space, I found my imagination.".

Jam Karet can be seen from 16 October to 21 December in Amersfoort, Amsterdam, Breda, Capelle a/d IJssel, Den Bosch, Den Haag, Eindhoven, Haarlem, Leiden, Nieuwegein, Nijmegen, Oss, Roermond, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Waalwijk, Wageningen and Wijchen.

MATZER makes theatre that touches and is at the centre of society. "We seek out people where our stories play out and use the power of live encounters to reach a broad and inclusive audience. We ask questions about current social issues and challenge our audience to think and empathise. Our performances are multi-layered, with a focus on quality and artistic autonomy."

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Melissa Knollenburg (1994) is a playwright and creator. Her CV includes Romeo & Juliet (HNTjong), Sisters (Bellevue), Women in Bath (Ola Mafaalani), A Thousand Daughters (Theatre After Dam) and Consolation (HNT). Melissa brings a strong vision of rapidly changing society, for the youngest generations. Her characters are often looking for connection, amidst chaos and a world on fire. Because of her background in dance, the effect of physical development - alongside language - plays a major role in her work. In her writing and making, Melissa also shapes the workings of intergenerational strain. She exposes how the lives of ancestors affect the lives now of the young generation of Dutch people with roots in Indonesia. The combination of being queer and bicultural will be a focus of her work in the coming years.

Kyra Bououargane (1987) is an actor, singer and theatre maker. In recent years, she has appeared with companies such as ROSE Stories, de Toneelmakerij and HNTjong in such plays as Milk & Dates, 1000+1 nights, 2021: A Space Trip and We are the Netherlands. As a songwriter, she has been associated with productions in which she also plays and sings, such as the performance series Radio van Deyssel and Noumi, sister seven. As a theatre maker, she mainly directs young adults. In addition to her work as a performing artist, Kyra makes programmes at Buitenkunst and teaches performance workshops and singing and speech classes to people from various industries.

Romee van de Meent (1998) is a Dutch-Indonesian dancer and maker. After pre-training in dance at the 5 O'Clock Class and the Bachelor Urban Contemporary (JMD) at the Amsterdam School of the Arts, she developed into a performer and maker of physical stories. She danced with Conny Janssen Danst, Zero Dance Theatre and Humanhood Dance Company and currently works as a freelance dancer and maker. In her own work, Romee creates physical stories that come to life both on film and in theatre. Among others, she made the films 4 Pistols and a Dahlia, A Love Letter to Self and The Eye of the Storm and choreographed works such as Memories of the Future and Don't Speak So I Can Hear You. Alongside her artistic work, Romee immerses herself in well-being through yoga, pilates and reiki, through which she further explores the connection between body, mind and energy, with the vision of creating healing experiences.