A second-hand beer bike that is normally used for partying groups will become a mobile theater stage in the Drentsche Aa river basin this summer. That is, if we manage to raise the last thousands of euros through crowdfunding.
The plan comes from the recently established Nieuwland Foundation from Drenthe. The foundation wants to convert the beer bike into a so-called story bike for the performance De Aa, which can be seen during FestiValderAa in early July.
For Isil Vos, one of the initiators, the choice for a beer bike is less strange than it seems at first glance. “We were looking for a way to literally make people part of the story. Visitors have to pedal together on this bicycle to keep the story moving,” she says in the Radio Drenthe program Cassata.
In the performance, the Drentsche Aa itself is given a voice. While visitors wear headphones through the landscape around Schipborg with the story bike, they listen to stories about the history of the stream, the changing landscape and the role of water in daily life.
According to Vos, the idea arose from a simple question: what would the brook itself say if it could talk? “That stream has been flowing here much longer than we have existed. Books have been written about it, artists have been involved in it and discussions are being held about nature, agriculture and recreation. We wanted to investigate what the Aa itself would have to say about it.”
“Of course the problems are discussed, but it is not a gloomy story. It actually made me hopeful when I read the text,” Vos emphasizes. “We also want to give that feeling to the audience.”
Along the way, participants not only encounter the story of the stream. Artists from Youth Circus Santelli provide short acts along the route. In addition, music has been composed especially for the performance by the Drenthe musician Julia Dubbelboer.
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