"We're performing at an external location: the Stinger Dome in Ede. A location fundamentally influences your performance, and I wanted to create something that doesn’t fit in a so-called black box or a theatre hall. The curvature of this building gives the acoustics a unique and distinctive character, and I will be working with that. With an eight-member choir, the audience will hear light classical music, experience silent interludes, and see physical theatre. There will be no spoken words in the performance", Meike explains. "This building was formerly a training location for the Defence Forces, where virtual shooting exercises were conducted. Initially not intended for theatre, it is a very special place to create a performance. Perhaps its history makes it even more so.”
Sailing on the Borderland
"The title I chose for my performance has multiple layers. After reading about Bas Jan Ader's conceptual artwork 'In Search of the Miraculous', I was immensely intrigued by the story. He made a long journey on a small sailboat and eventually disappeared at sea, searching for ‘the miraculous’. In retrospect, reading about this work was one of the first inspirations to work with themes such as sublimity and fear. He took a great risk in searching for a miraculous experience. I recognized aspects of this story in myself. It reflects my own attitude towards life. I experience it in a quite open, grand, and vulnerable way, and taking risks and continually questioning myself is part of that. The metaphor of sailing on the sea touches that essence for me. Your life is like traveling through a kind of no man's land between the surface and the air, and you don’t immediately see where you are going. All around you is only sea and depth, and I want to embrace that. There are many metaphorical borderlands to sail on, such as those between the known and the unknown, or life and death. Opposite this is the question, ‘why can things feel so existential?’. This is an inseparable part of the process.
The title is also a glimpse into my future, as after graduating, I will be embarking on a long journey on a three-masted sailing ship.
Both the title and the performance reflect on the philosophy of the sublime: something that refers to the ‘incomprehensibly grand. The experience one can have as a human in the face of the magnificent wild nature, nature that can overpower. A feeling of insignificance and wonder’. These are themes that are immensely inspiring to me and speak to the imagination, and that’s what I wanted to create with. The pieces I have (re)written for the choir, and the acoustics of the building, should give the audience an immersive experience. A theatrical challenge that is about embracing your true feelings and an invitation to step into the unknown.”
Reflecting on the Music Theatre bachelor’s course
Personally, I found this program to be a huge challenge. Being on stage can be incredibly vulnerable. It is so personal, and you make it public. My artistic journey in this form of music theatre came with many highs and lows. Looking back, the program has mainly brought me development and direction, both personally and artistically. I now have a better understanding of who I am, what I find interesting, and what I want to convey as a creator. My graduation performance is the result of that process.”
More about the bachelor's course in Music Theatre
