Wunderbaum
Walter Bart at Café CityScape in Gothenburg. Photo: Bernd Uhlig
Matjis Jensen at Café CityScape in Gothenburg. Photo: Bernd Uhlig
Wunderbaum is a collective consiting of actors Marleen Scholten, Maartje Remmers, Wine Diericks, Matijs Jansen and Walter Bart and the designer Maarten van Otterdijk. They work without a director or writer. For SEAS Walter Bart and Matjis Jansen toured with Beer Tourists.
A collective without director
Formed in the year 2001 by a group of actors graduating from the academy in Maastrict, working with director Johan Simons at ZT Hollandia, they were given the opportunity to create performances autonomously, which they did for a number of years, calling themselves Jonghollandia. When Simons left ZT Hollandia to work in Ghent, the group followed him. They were already gaining a reputation and were now invited to produce at The Rotterdamse theatre in the Dutch port city. Their new situation prompted them to look for a new name. In a Ljubliana taxi, during the rehearsals for Everybody for Berlusconi, inspiration took the form of a scented tree hanging from the driver’s rear view mirror. Taking the name Wunderbaum, they were contracted to create two performances a year, one in Rotterdam and one in Ghent.
Site specific on current themes
They create their own texts on themes such as alcohol, violence, politics, asylum seekers or the anti-social behaviour of youth. The group often works site specifically. They find their inspiration in news-stories, contemporary political themes and subjects they read about in the newspaper, such as: aggression in society, asylum seekers, the rise and fall of Berlusconi, the advance of religion and Christianity, the connection between economy and the discourse of love. Collaborations are frequent, such as that with the band Kopna Kopna in Lost Chord Radio, the story of disaster struck town Los Alamos, New Mexico. This performance brought down the house when it visited the RedCat Theatre in Los Angeles.
Wunderbaum often performs outside their Dutch/Flemish home base, and have with success performed at festivals and theatres in the United States, Italy, Switzerland and other countries. They have also created one feature film called Maybe Sweden.
