Activities

Work in Development

Werkplaats Oerol provides space for new site-specific work in development, both during and outside the festival.

The collective Rotor will work on-site for a week in September to conduct research for their new work, Erosion II.

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FloenK, consisting of Meia Eggermont and Cas de Graaf, is the winner of Kunstbende 2023 in the Theatre category. For Oerol 2024, they developed a new performance, Kapotte poppenkoppen, which they presented to the audience at the festival hub, De Deining. The performance aimed to create a sense of confusion for the audience, allowing them the freedom to decide how deeply they wished to engage with it. Their work, often spontaneous and improvised, is a quest for new and unexpected ways of storytelling.
Within Werkplaats Oerol, the team of Niet Mijn Huis worked on a scene based on the short story "Casa Tomada" by Julio Cortázar. This performance, which focuses on language barriers and accessibility, explores how multilingual theatre can be created. During the residency, there were unique insights into the creative process, with the audience able to attend rehearsals. The performance will be presented in spoken Dutch, Dutch Sign Language, and audio description, addressing themes of alienation and loss.
More White Money focuses on the impact of European art subsidies on the global art market. This international residency on Terschelling, facilitated by Oerol, brought together artists from various countries to explore these imbalances. During Oerol, they shared their initial impressions and findings with the public and peers. The performance will premiere in November 2025 at Sophiensæle in Berlin and will then tour throughout the Netherlands.
During her residency at Werkplaats Oerol, Amira al Rawi worked on her first site-specific performance, Majnun, a dance piece that will be further developed and presented at the Over het IJ Festival. Based on the ancient Arabic story of Layla and Majnun, the performance explores themes of alienation and deep longing. Al Rawi, both creator and dancer in the piece, employs dance styles such as waacking, housedance, and flamenco. The music, composed by Esmail Bnaoe, blends electronic, industrial, and Middle Eastern influences.
The musical creators' collective BUI developed their site-specific work What are you building in there!? within Werkplaats Oerol. On the beach by the festival hub, they created an improvisation space that evolved with the tides over a span of six hours. Musicians built and dismantled structures, sang melodies, and played brass and percussion instruments, drawing inspiration from the moment and the surroundings. The work was a celebration of the here and now, with the landscape, the audience, and passersby becoming part of the performance.
Romke Gabe Draaijer worked within Werkplaats Oerol on an audio installation titled MEEUW 6004 (geen Tsjechov), which tells the story of the silver gull from the bird's perspective. Based on scientific research, this installation explored the interaction between humans and gulls, questioning which species is actually the greater nuisance. During Oerol 2024, Draaijer shared the initial results of this work in progress with the public. Draaijer is supported in his creative process by Tryater.
What is wisdom: to die or to procreate? Eva Bartels explored challenging questions related to the painful phases of our earthly existence within Werkplaats Oerol. Inspired by Ana Mendieta's Earth Works, Bartels conducted re-enactments and group rituals with the audience, such as a living burial and a collective fertilization. Bartels questions herself and the audience, aiming to let go of traditional norms and feelings of guilt and shame.

In his project Lacuna Kitchen, Abhishek Thapar explores the gap between the public and the often invisible people who prepare, serve, and clean up our food in restaurants. During his residency at Werkplaats Oerol, Thapar developed a Terschelling version of Lacuna Kitchen as part of the Oerol Festival 2025 programme. He researched suitable locations, the hospitality industry on Terschelling, and discovered where the island’s food comes from. Additionally, he explored potential collaborations for next year’s project. The goal is to engage the audience with both the front and back ends of the restaurant business, with attention and care for the food and the people involved.

In September 2023, Johannes Westendorp began a two-year research project at the University of Antwerp. He is exploring the possibility of location-based concerts where insects and amphibians are the focal point. They have built a sound installation with 8 speakers, immersing visitors in the experience. Using effect pedals and homemade electronics, they create sounds reminiscent of the calls of midwife toads (‘low fi’). This leads to a composition/soundscape that responds to the ambient sounds of the animals. The aim is to create a performance for the public, hopefully during Oerol 2025. The residency proved crucial for the development of the setup and musical elements.

Johannes: “Our challenge is to find a balance between an organic structure that fits into the environment and enough sonic richness to create an engaging concert performance.”

Nina Iggy is undertaking a development trajectory with Station Noord, in partnership with Oerol. During her creative process, she conducted a week of research on the beach of Terschelling. Nina says:

“The making process for me is greatly affected by my feeling of possibilities. The natural surroundings, only accessible somewhere like Terschelling, were an integral part of my research into reconnecting with the body’s relationship to itself and the natural elements to which we surrender in birth, life, and death. (..) The obvious natural restrictions and freedoms that we encountered while moving among the sand, such as the heaviness of the sand itself and the sunburn from the sun above, all inspired my movement choices, which I would never have discovered working in the studio.”

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