'We always mention art and craft in the same breath'

Maastricht's renowned theatre academy is 75 years old. There is no other theatre school in the Netherlands where so many famous people have learned the trade. What is their secret? In this story, diverse theatre personalities shed light on the academy that became famous for its focus on the craft of theatre.

By Jos Schuring

DIRECTOR DARIA BUKVIĆ: 'I FELT ME ALICE IN WONDERLAND'
In 2014, the then 25-year-old Daria Bukvić made the performance Nobody Home with three actors from the Maastricht Academy. The refugee story hit like a bomb. Sold out everywhere. Unique for a small production without famous names. From 2021, she leads Theatre Oostpool in Arnhem and is one of the best directors in the Netherlands.
'In secondary school, I was already into theatre and signed up for acting lessons at Het Laagland in Sittard. That's where I met director Lieke Benders. Then I realised I didn't necessarily have to go on stage myself. I wanted to do what she did. I heard about the academy that the best actors are trained there. If I want to become the best director, I have to be able to work with the best actors and so I wanted to go to Maastricht because that's where Theu Boermans came from, Halina Reyn, Gijs Scholten van Aschat and all those others. I was privileged to study around in such a creative biotope for four years. I felt like Alice in Wonderland. You learn there how to read a play, how to interpret it and how to develop your own signature. Most important thing I learned is that theatre is a team sport. René Lobo said you always have to be there when you make theatre. If you are not there you are either giving birth or you are dead. And added that if you're not there everything collapses.' Were you scared of him too? 'No, although he did once threaten to throw me into the Jeker because I had once made something that angered him. I thought if such a big man is angry with me, I have probably done something right. I didn't have a lesson from Arthur Sonnen, but I did meet him several times and that broadened my mind. He taught me that my bi-cultural background within training was not an obstacle, but an enrichment.'

DIRECTOR SERVÉ HERMANS: 'PLAYING THE BIG HALL WITHOUT A MICROPHONE.'
From 2025 to 2023, he formed the artistic direction of Toneelgroep Maastricht (TGM) together with Michel Sluysmans. Since two years he has been freelancing but still often works with TGM. 'I was taught at the Toneel Academie by greats such as actor Jeroen Willems and director Johan Simons. 'Through them I suddenly understood that I wanted to become a director. Jeroen was thoughtful and profound. For example, he could talk at length about the difference between a boat and a ship. A ship is tall, stately and cuts through the waves, a boat is low to the ground and clumsy. Johan was still active at ZT Hollandia when I met him. There I played with Frank Lammers and Fedja van Huêt in Richard the third. When Johan became artistic director at NT Gent, I joined him. Johan could approach difficult things simply and was very earthy. Jeroen had that too. He was made great as an actor by Johan His mastery as an actor mainly came down to playing from concentration. After ten years in Ghent, I decided together with Michel to make a bid for the artistic leadership of Toneelgroep Maastricht. As an actor, I often had to sweat out someone else's midlife crisis'.

THEATERMAKER LIEKE BENDERS: 'REPERTOIRE DID NOT INTEREST ME'
She grew up in Sittard and wanted to go to drama school in Amsterdam, but was not accepted. In Maastricht she was. 'Shit! Now I have to go to Maastricht while I wanted to go to the Randstad. That's what I thought at the time, but I had a great time there. It's also a privilege. Just think, there are six hundred auditors, thirty people are accepted and after the first year half of them have dropped out. So then you belong to an exclusive company. In my time, there were very many male lecturers and so few female ones, which was out of proportion. As students, it always felt like a family. Sometimes I did want to escape and I would go to a monastery where, incidentally, I made my first performance at the House of Burgundy, the production house that still existed at the time. I immediately got a great review in the Volkskrant. Orante was theatre on location, very visual and therefore very different from the theatre my fellow students aspired to. They were busy with repertoire. I had to read a lot of texts, but turning them into theatre did not interest me at all. In Maastricht, I did learn to think well from the stage. Later, there were teachers who inspired me even more, such as Vincent de Rooy of the Dogtroep and Moniek Merkx, with whom I later did an internship. This is also how I came into contact with Joop Mulder of Oerol, where I had the opportunity to perform several times. My visual work allowed me to play more at festivals.'

TONEELSCHOOLBAAS ROB LIGTHERT: 'WIE SCHAMPERT OVER AMBACHT VERGIST ZICH'
He was director of the Toneelacademie for 11 years and recently became 'just' coordinator of the academy. 'Culture in Maastricht is mainly entertainment culture and it is deeply rooted in carnival and in religion.' Ligthert's career began in Maastricht with De Federatie a small theatre company he founded at the academy with playwright Peer Wittenbols. Later, the duo led the large company Oostpool in Arnhem. 'Within the academy, it is important which people meet at which time. It is an institute that should primarily provide protected practice. How much of the world's issues do you want to bring into the school? That is a question that always comes up. But all the world woes can also -certainly in the last few years- be crippling. Art is also ability and skill. A craft attitude is important. Those who scorn craft are mistaken.
It is about wanting to do it well. We always mention art and craft in the same breath. An actor bv also has an initiating side, not just a serving side.'
The Toneelacademie has often been called the purveyor of Dutch theatre. Ligthert grins disdainfully. He picks up the new season brochure of Theater aan het Vrijthof. Numerous green narrow stickers stick out. Those are pages that mention actors who graduated in Maastricht. We look at the green flaps together and estimate that there are fifty, maybe seventy. Ligthert: 'But where are those other hundreds of graduates then?' He gives the answer himself. 'Those find their way into film, television, voicebooks or do voice acting.' Or teach.

FANATIC ALLESETER: THEATERPROGRAMMEUR PETER NOTEN 'Dressing up and performing is in the Maastricht people's DNA. That's also because of carnival and the Catholic faith, of course.' Peter Noten is an avid omnivore when it comes to theatre. He works as a programmer at Theater aan het Vrijthof, but is also active with the Mestreechs Volleks Tejater, founded in the 1980s by his father Huub Noten. Noten junior is a director, producer, writer, translator and has been involved in over a hundred productions. He produced musicals such asChitty Chitty Bang Bang, My Fair Lady, SCROOGE. 'Maastricht has a long tradition of stage acting in its own language - "Mestreechs". This kind of popular theatre is very varied, from passion plays and musicals to comedy, but also philosophical plays.' He is currently working on four productions, one of which is Bokkerijders, a spectacle musical he will direct with Servé Hermans at Toneelgroep Maastricht in the summer of 2026. Noten studied copyright in London in the two years he lived there he saw 'everything that was loose and stuck' He has 2,500 programme books of musicals in the cupboard at home and has been associated with the Musicalawards for many years.

REGISSEUR MICHEL SLUYSMANS: 'THE MOST MUSICAL PROVINCE OF THE NETHERLANDS' He has been artistic director of Toneelgroep Maastricht since 2015, but he was once rejected for the theatre school here. 'Then I was accepted in Amsterdam. Shit I thought, now I have to leave Maastricht. I was still a pale boy of barely eighteen. Because of that rejection, I lived in Amsterdam for twenty years. Back in Maastricht, Servé Hermans and I were able to do great things. We made many successful performances and attracted many visitors. Of all the big theatre companies, we have the least subsidy and the most return. We brought audiences back to the Maastricht story and we always have music in our performances. Limburg is indeed the most musical province we have in the Netherlands. We are working on a cinema film, an adaptation of Ik blijf bij je with Abbie Chalgoum. We are not out to lure moviegoers to our theatre performances like this. You shouldn't sell a sausage to a vegetarian. But it might well bring in new audiences and that will be a bonus.' About the Maastricht Academy, Sluysmans is enthusiastic. 'I teach there and, as a game teacher, I find it inspiring. It is a pity, though, that most people leave for Amsterdam after graduation.'

TALENT DEVELOPMENTER JOOST SEGERS: 'DEVELOPMENT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN END RESULT' Via Zuid was recently assessed very positively by the Council for Culture and will now receive extra resources for talent development that Maastricht has been missing since the disappearance of production house Huis van Bourgondië in 2013. Artistic director Joost Segers is the architect of the new plans.'We are committed to qualitative growth with more resources and a focus on fewer makers. We make one or two of our own productions every year and are firmly anchored in Limburg with euregional and national relevance. Development is more important to us than the end result. We are a daring organisation where makers want to belong. Where they meet inspiring Peers and find the right context to meet audiences. In October, The House of Noah Jansen will premiere and make a national tour. Princess Isatu Hassan Bangura received the Theo d'Or for Great Apes of the West Coast that we produced together with NTGent and Likeminds. Her new performance will follow in 2026. Our role is very broad, from youth dance to performance, as well as repertory theatre. Several of our former creators are very successful such as Silke van Kamp who scored high with F*ck Lolita that she made with Het Zuidelijk Toneel. Eight times a year we present a Sneak Peek, presentations of new makers in five theatres. With SoAP Maastricht and C-TAKT from Flanders, we present work-in-progress at festival Winternights. Cultura Nova in Heerlen, Theater aan het Vrijthof, Parkstad Limburg Theatres and Museum Marres, with which we organise the Rooms festival, are also important places for us for presentations. Incidentally, almost all the makers I have now mentioned are Maastricht graduates. We are very excited about our new status as a Bis institution (the premier league of subsidised art- ed.) Now we can fulfil our role as a talent developer much better.'

ACTOR HUUB STAPEL: 'Suddenly I was able to do LOPACHIN, HAMLET, EVERYTHING' ' René Lobo allowed me to advance to the third class of the acting academy but I wasn't brave enough for that. I then switched to teacher training. My great teacher was Zdislav Wardejn. He always got straight to the point with me. He directed Sjoerd Pleijsier in a class above me in Three Crosses. I have never seen Sjoerd play so well since then. I once played a scene and Wardeijn didn't like it. He asked: Where are you from? What does your father do? What does your mother do? After my answers, he said, "I want to see that in your play. Play from within yourself." And suddenly I could do that, play from relaxation. As if that thousand-pound boulder was no longer on my back. Suddenly I could play Lopachin, Hamlet, everything. Wardejn was incredible. I still think of him almost daily.'