Community art of 'Hidden War' forges bond between Dutch and Guatemalans

The Waterlinieestival is organising this year's festival at Fort Nieuwersluis, and this is how director Anouk de Bruijn found her location for 'Hidden War'. 'This setting suits the performance very well,' she thinks. 'It is directly linked to the theme of war.' Because Fort Nieuwersluis, built in 1881, was part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie and was a defence mechanism for the whole of the Netherlands. During World War II, NSB members were imprisoned there, and later Indies refuseniks. During the Cold War, defence forces used it. And now Dutch and Guatemalan players walk around. They rehearse in a small, dark room (the shutters close) of the fort. There is room for 50 spectators there. The stuffy, small fits the play well.

Director Catalina Garcia is also part of the group that came to the Netherlands. Ever since she has been here, she has been cold. She finds the fact that this location is so connected to war very fitting for the performance. 'Because in our country, war is also present. Always.' She escaped the violent atmosphere from Guatemala for several weeks and is now working with director Anouk de Bruijn to complete the play. She coordinates the project with Anouk and guides the young actors throughout the process. 'We merged the two processes from Guatemala and the Netherlands,' Catalina says. 'At first, there were a lot of differences. We move more and the Dutch have more text. We had to integrate that. And although there is a clear structure, a lot also goes spontaneously.'

Guidance

She finds the players' guidance especially important. After all, it is their stories they show in 'Hidden War'. They (and also those others) told them to Anouk de Bruijn during interviews. They are all real personal stories, which they have all experienced and felt. Stories of how they live there in a country dominated by violence, killings, mistrust. 'We talk about it a lot and I regularly ask how they are doing. We have become very close and are like a family.' It is typical of the Guatemalan theatre company, which wants to be a counterbalance and alternative to the civil war-ridden country precisely through theatre.

Eefje Verherbrugge (27) has just returned from Peru. She sees everyone back at this rehearsal for the first time. 'So strange to see Plinio here!' she says. 'I was in Guatemala in 2009 and 2012, for internship and for my research. I worked a lot with Plinio then. And now he is here, in my city. Because they are here, you immediately feel a bit there. Wonderful, because dealing with each other is very approachable. People there are much more open and approachable.'

Liberating

Eefje was in Guatemala in 2009 for her Cultural Social Education studies and did an internship at Caja Ludica. Last year she went back for her anthropology studies. 'It's great fun to be involved in this. I now play all the things I have experienced and lived through myself, as well as experiences of others.' She is not an actress, but enjoys playing. 'For my studies, I deal with theatre a lot and acting works very liberating for me. Moreover, it is very loose. Nobody here is really an actor and we are not expected to be. Many things come out of ourselves, because we tell our own story. This also makes it easier for me to understand.'

The performance is based on the difference between young people in Guatemala living in a violent society and Dutch students, who actually seek out the civil-war-torn country. 'Well,' nuances Eefje, 'it's not that you seek out misery. Guatemala is so much more than violence. You do hear violent stories, but there is also a lot of cheerfulness. People laugh a lot. You can also gain experiences there that you would never learn in the Netherlands, for example in terms of culture and how they work with theatre here. It's much more community-based. I felt that theatre was much more necessary there, felt it was more essential to do things like that. But I did find out that something like community art is always good to connect and bring people together, wherever you are.'