HF Lab x DEGASTEN: JÖRĐ

About HF Lab

For many years, the Holland Festival has created space for young thinkers, dreamers, and doers. HF Lab is the Holland Festival’s youth program. Through workshops, hands-on experience, and their own stage where they can share their vision, creations, and perspectives, young people become an integral part of the festival.

About DEGASTEN

DEGASTEN creates theatre in Amsterdam with young performers and makers (ages 13–31). The development of their acting, movement, imagination, and collaboration is central. It is not only about the final result, but just as much about the process: daring, experimenting, failing, and starting again. We work with hyper-diverse groups, where different backgrounds, ages, and levels inspire and strengthen one another. DEGASTEN’s strength lies in guiding young talent within a deeply personal context, often in collaboration with social, artistic, or educational partners. This approach results in theatre performances and experiences with a distinctive artistic signature.

About the creators

Christopher van der Meer is a singer, actor, and theatre maker, graduated from ArtEZ University of the Arts (Arnhem). His work moves between music and theatre, creating space for stories that resonate, connect, and spark curiosity. Christopher works as an actor, musician, and teaching artist with DEGASTEN.

Antonia Keersmaekers is a theatre maker, performer, and musician, graduated from the Academy for Theatre and Dance (Amsterdam). In her work, she continuously searches for the musicality of body and space. She creates absurdist theatre about life and death and prefers to work through co-creation: collaborating with her performers as a collective. After an internship with DEGASTEN, she remained connected to the company and has since worked with them on a project basis.