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DEADLIFT الحَمّالون
Currently on tour in Sweden!
A Palestinian-Dutch co-production about human resilience
New York, Avignon, Dublin: the intense, cinematic theatre work of Palestinian director Bashar Murkus has a global impact. His new performance, DEADLIFT, is a unique collaboration between the Palestinian theatre company Al-Harah from Palestine, Boy Jonkergouw Producties from the Netherlands and the Swedish Riksteatern. Expect a poetic, visual and physical tribute to the resilience of people in distress.
Boy Jonkergouw
Theatre-maker
Impresario
Boy Jonkergouw is a Dutch director, playwright and producer that focuses on human rights, social (climate) injustice and neurodiversity. His work addresses the struggle of people that are poorly or wrongly understood by society.
Aside from his own work, Boy coproduces and sells both national and international artists that share his belief that performing arts can start revolutions: the roots of change lie within our imagination.
About
Boy Jonkergouw is a craftsman with an impressive track record’ (from the advice of the commission National Dutch Fund for Performance Art 2020)
An artistic army against indifference.
Boy Jonkergouw has a 25-year long experience in performing, producing, directing and writing theatre. He produced and created both intimate theatre solos as more large-scale cultural festivals and worked both on commission as autonomously. His autonomous work mainly addresses the struggle of people that are poorly or wrongly understood by the media and society. Previously he made theatre about and with people that suffered from schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and autism. Since 2017, he focussed more and more on the stories of people with PTSD. In 2017 he made the impactful play Eyes Wide Open, in which Dutch veterans showed what the impact was of their trauma on their partners and beloved. In 2020 -22, he collaborated with peace organisation PAX and Het Zuidelijk Toneel on the production Dangerous Names, in which Srebrenica survivor Alma Mustafic shares the stage with Raymond Braat, a veteran of the battalion that was actually co-responsible for the death of her father. Considering recent international political developments, Boy felt the need to bring more substantive focus into his work. With human rights, social justice and the very existence of life on our planet under increasing threat, he wants to build an artistic army against indifference and injustice.
Mission
1.
Boy Jonkergouw is an orthodox believer in the values of the French revolution and wants to function as an artistic propaganda machine for these values. He strongly believes that everything that is good and sustainable in civilisation is rooted in these three principles: brotherhood, equality and freedom. It is his strong conviction that none of these three pillars can exist without the other: freedom without brotherhood and equal chances for all, will eventually create a dictatorship of the most egoistic and rich. All these beautiful values are worthless if they don’t apply to all nationalities, genders, religions and sexual identities. There will be no world peace until these values include all the people from all backgrounds, in all corners of the world.
2.
The most concrete tools to realise the values of the French revolution on a global scale, are the UN global development goals. Boy Jonkergouw Producties wants to contribute to the realisation of these goals by addressing the political, economic and social forces that oppose these goals.
3.
Boy Jonkergouw Producties makes art with a social mission, but not social art. The artistic concept serves the message, but does never make any concession in artistic quality: a strong message deserves strong art!
4.
Boy Jonkergouw Producties combines a high artistic quality with a high accessibility for everyone.
5.
Boy Jonkergouw Producties aims to contribute to the international exchange of meaningful, socially relevant written theatre.
6.
Boy Jonkergouw Producties strives to bring it’s art within a context of lectures, debates and education.
7.
Boy Jonkergouw Producties strives to realise collaborations with organisations from the public sphere.