De Marketplace 

Tijd: vanaf 10:00 uur
Locatie: Meervaart, Marketplace
Voertaal: Nederlands en Engels 

De Marketplace is een toegankelijke ontmoetingsplek waar organisaties en bedrijven uit de podiumkunstensector hun kennis, diensten en initiatieven kunnen delen. Het is opgezet als een plek voor inhoudelijke uitwisseling en nieuwe samenwerkingen, niet als een traditionele beursvloer. Op het programma staan onder meer een lightning session van de VSCD en presentaties van de Kunstenbond, Aukes Theatertechniek en ShowTex. Andere deelnemers worden later bekendgemaakt.

Foto: Nichon Glerum

Actueel en Accuraat 

Tijd: 10:00–10:45 uur
Locatie: Meervaart, Blauwe Zaal
Voertaal: Nederlands 

Questions Collective verandert een herkenbare vergadering van een culturele organisatie in een absurdistische, interactieve performance. Deelnemers krijgen een rol, brengen hun eigen vakjargon mee en beslissen samen wat er op tafel komt. Met post-its, een windmachine en artistieke notulen worden frustraties rond macht, bureaucratie en besluitvorming zichtbaar gemaakt. Tegelijkertijd onderzoekt de performance of de systemen waarin de sector werkt ook anders kunnen worden ingericht. 

Foto: Mark Bolk

The city theater of the future: architecture, access and belonging 

 
Time: 10:00–11:00
Location: Hall 5
Language: Dutch 

Based on plans for the Nieuwe Meervaart, this session explores how building, program and environment together can form an accessible city theater. Architecture is approached not as a monument, but as a structure that enables culture and lowers social and symbolic barriers. Using examples of theaters that function as public spaces throughout the day, participants formulate three key insights for the future city theater: architectural, programmatic and societal. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

Making Inclusive as an Artistic Strategy: From Stage Practice to Structural Value 

Time: 10:00–11:00
Location: Hall 6
Language: Dutch

Makers from Silbersee's Eternal Youth Studio and dance company Misiconi demonstrate how inclusion can be an artistic starting point. Their practices connect different generations and professional performers with and without disabilities. The panel discusses artistic outcomes, practical challenges, legitimacy, funding and audience development, and offers ideas for sustainable anchoring. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

This Goes Wrong 

Time: 11:00–12:30   
Location: Blauwe Zaal   
Language: Dutch 

Emerging theater makers face a landscape with less funding and fewer performance venues. Young artists, heads of training programs, and festival programmers discuss where the pipeline from education to sustainable professional practice breaks down. Topics include the number of graduates, the position of production houses, the large volume of festival submissions, and the distribution of opportunities. The session concludes with a formally drafted mock agreement that records the key statements and commitments. 

Photo: Nichon Glerum

FEELING SAFE(TY): THE BODY AS A RED THREAD IN SOCIAL SAFETY 

Time: 11:30–12:30
Location: Hall 8
Language: English 

Dans Veilig connects conversations about social safety with physical experience in this workshop. First, risks around power, cultures of silence, identity, and physical or sexual boundaries are discussed. Participants then explore their own boundaries, proximity, risk, and consent through movement. People with different roles in the field work together, making differences in power dynamics tangible. The workshop provides practical tools for a healthy and safe working culture in dance and theater. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

NAPK Sustainability Award 

Time: 11:30–12:30
Location: Hall 5
Language: Dutch 

The NAPK Sustainability Award highlights organizations, festivals and individual professionals who are leading the way in sustainable thinking and practice. During this session, the five nominees for the 2025/2026 season will be announced. They will share their ambitions, considerations and experiences from practice. The presentation also serves as a starting point for a discussion about the further sustainability of the performing arts sector. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

Out and About 

Time: 11:30–12:30
Location: Hall 6
Language: Dutch 

Four members of the WijkJury share how a theater visit unfolds with a visible or invisible physical disability. They take participants along from the preparation at home through the physical, sensory, and emotional experiences in and after the theater. Topics include stairs, seating, sightlines, and sound, among others. Following the personal stories, there will be speed dates with the WijkJury members and a joint closing discussion using the WijkJury's method. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

Lightning talk: The Industry Diagnosis

 
Time: 1:00–1:30 PM
Location: Marketplace
Language: English

Maud van Boven presents the key findings from the latest VSCD report on the health of the theater sector during lunch. Participants will gain insight into current developments and pressing issues in just half an hour. After the session, a printed version of the report will be available. The session takes place in the Marketplace, is freely accessible, and requires no separate ticket. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

Makers*Monday XL 

Time: 13:15–15:15
Location: Foyer Blauwe Zaal
Language: Dutch and English 

Makers*Monday XL brings emerging makers into contact with experienced professionals from the theater field. Participants can bring practical and strategic questions about dramaturgy, budgeting, grants, touring, marketing, artistic development and positioning, among other topics. Knowledge and experiences are exchanged in small groups. In addition, every registered maker receives a personal match with a professional for a conversation during the drinks reception at 16:30. Platform Horizon acts as host. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

To the Limit: Social Safety for Freelancers

Time: 13:30–14:45
Location: Hall 8
Language: English 

Mores presents the Guide to Social Safety for Freelancers and discusses how self-employed professionals can have conversations about boundaries, behavior, and power dynamics. Using recognizable scenarios, participants practice what they can do before, during, and after a commission. The workshop is designed for freelancers from various disciplines who want to strengthen their position and contribute to a socially and psychologically safe work environment. 

Mad Studies and the Performing Arts 

Time: 13:30–14:45
Location: Hall 10
Language: Dutch 

This reading group explores how mental distress and 'madness' are depicted on stage. Cato Benschop and Hanneke van der Paardt discuss language, stigma, artistic freedom, and the question of who gets to tell which stories. A text by Mad Studies thinker Bonnie Burstow serves as the starting point for the conversation and will be read aloud during the session; no preparation is necessary. The session seeks ways to break down old power structures and stereotypical representations. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

Internationalisation: Touring and Relationship Management 

Time: 13:30–14:45
Location: Blauwe Zaal
Language: English 

In connection with the Dutch Dance Days, this session discusses international positioning, touring, networking and relationship management. Artists, agents and programmers share practical experiences; a workshop session follows in Maastricht on 3 October. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

50 Years of Youth Theater in the Netherlands 

Time: 15:15–16:30
Location: Hall 3
Language: Dutch 

Podiumkunst.net aims to work together with youth theater companies, production houses and venues to better preserve and make accessible the history of Dutch youth theater. In this first exploration, stakeholders will discuss which developments and individuals were defining and how underrepresented makers can find a place in the archives. Various collaborative forms will also be explored, such as a website, book, project or event centered around archive material. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

From Institutions to Instituting: Designing Alternative Ways of Organizing Art Practices Together

Time: 15:15–16:30
Location: Hall 10
Language: English

Artists Circle approaches organizing not as a fixed institution, but as an ongoing process that can be continuously reshaped. Local and international examples of collective governance, shared resources, and working without strict hierarchies are central. Feminist Culture House, London Queer Circle and PAF share experiences with questions around decision-making power, energy, funding and collaboration. The session translates various experiments into actionable insights for artists and small organizations.

Photo: Nichon Glerum

New Theater Workers Speak Out 

Time: 15:15–16:30
Location: Hall 6
Language: Dutch 

Ensemble New Theater Workers invites the sector to listen to the generation shaping theater in the years to come. Emerging professionals from various disciplines engage in conversation about the state of the field from their own perspective. The meeting between generations is understood as a shared, critical practice in which participants ask questions, express doubt, and reconsider existing choices. ENT represents an association of approximately three hundred theater workers. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

Fair Pay for marketers in practice 

Time: 15:15–16:30
Location: Room 8
Language: Dutch 

This session addresses the significant fee differences among freelance marketing and communications professionals in the cultural sector. New standard rates and the MarCom Framework help clients and freelancers translate content, experience, and responsibilities into transparent agreements. Practical examples demonstrate how these tools can be used in negotiations, with special attention to young freelancers who are often underpaid. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

Rise of the Technaturgs 

Time: 15:15–16:15
Location: Hall 4
Language: English 

Performance-maker Ryan O'Shea introduces the technaturg: a role in which technical knowledge and dramaturgical thinking come together from the beginning of the creative process. Participants explore through examples and exercises how technology can strengthen the artistic choices and resilience of a project. They also become acquainted with accessible applications, including QLab and basic lighting software. The workshop approaches technical literacy as part of dramaturgy and dramaturgical insight as part of technical work. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

Launch of TheateropleidersAkkoord 

Time: 15:15–16:30
Location: Blauwe Zaal
Language: Dutch 

During this gathering, the TheateropleidersAkkoord will be officially presented and signed. This national collaboration aims to make theater education for children and young people in the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom more accessible, inclusive, and sustainable. Educational institutions, schools, youth theater schools, theater companies, festivals, artists, and policymakers will be connected together for an extended period. In addition to discussions about the necessity and implementation, there will be an artistic contribution from students or young people. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

The artist as an afterthought 

Time: 15:15–16:30
Location: Hall 5
Language: English 

MoMo investigates how temporary commissions and precarious employment conditions affect artistic quality, autonomy, and innovation. While organizational continuity is often protected, actors, directors, dramaturgs, designers, and other creators typically work from project to project. The session therefore asks how artistic staff can gain more say, time, and structural security. This also examines the choices needed in a future cultural landscape. 

Photo: Mark Bolk

The State of Theater 

Time: 17:00–17:50
Location: Rode Zaal
Language: Dutch 

The State of Theater is the traditional opening speech of the Dutch Theater Festival and marks the beginning of the new theater season. The speaker offers a personal vision on current developments within and outside the sector, with room for debate, provocation and inspiration. The name of the speaker will be announced later. 

Photo: Mark Bolk