Toestanden (1976) User Reviews

Improvised work theatre from a collective of artists

[eabakkum · 8/10 · 15 February 2011]

Some years ago the complete works of the Werkteater company was released on DVD, in a box of four, by NPS and Theater Instituut. The titles are Avondrood, Toestanden, Hallo Medemens, Camping, Opname, Bosch en Lucht, Een zwoele zomeravond and U bent mijn moeder. They cover the period 1975-1983. Werktejater was a collective of artists, who on ideological grounds had no commercial or artistic leader. They usually performed live on stage, often using sheer improvisation only. Their primary aim was to communicate with the audience, which was often the personnel of an institute or company. Werkteater did not operate on a commercial basis, but was subsidized by the government. The official policy was that art contributes to human development and thus to social and economic growth. A major customer of Werktejater were the psychiatric institutions and clinics. It was the time of anti-psychiatry, which in the USA was recommended for instance by Thomas Szasz. The idea is that the psychiatric patients are not really different from the staff and personnel, or anybody else outside the clinic, for that matter. The film Toestanden is one of these performances about mental deviations. It consists of some ten interrelated short plays. The film starts and ends with a dysfunctional family, with the parents locked in an insane collusion, and the child being driven into despair and hysteria. It brings into mind the similar scenes in the famous film Rebel without a cause. Subsequently we see a hyperactive reporter (personated by Peter Faber, who also played in the film Max Havelaar). The next scene makes a caricature of a quiz-master, who meets a bizarre passer-by. Then there follow a few plays about relations between patients and the personnel in psychiatric clinics. For instance, the personnel is trained by means of role plays, and again fall into stereotypes and social patterns. We see a collaborator experimenting with his therapy, by reducing the amount of medicine use. This trial degenerates into chaos. And there are attempts to democratize the relation between the staff and the personnel, although deep inside the chief psychiatrist is reluctant. The question of meaningful work among nurses is also addressed. I am not active in this branch, but have read some books about psychiatry, and think that the acts give a realistic picture. In short, Werktejater has made a film full of creativity and idealism, and without answers. I guess it helps people to think outside of the usual box - which is probably beneficial for patients and personnel in psychiatric clinics alike. For me the film is a challenge, being not particularly comfortable with either emotions or artistic creativity. Of all Werktejater productions, Toestanden may well be the most moving one.