Can you introduce yourself? I am Peer Roosen (die/hun, 1991), a passion-filled bouncing ball who writes, makes and plays performances based on poetry. Thirteen years ago I moved from Zeeland to Eindhoven to study at the Technical University. From that technical world, I made a turn to word art. Being self-taught and a participant in the literary talent hub WOLK, I developed from spoken word artist to multidisciplinary maker. Now my work moves at the intersection of poetry, performance and theater.
What are your biggest motivations? My biggest motivation is to touch people. I want to make abstract or difficult to grasp themes tangible through poetry and performance. I often work from an autofictive approach: I start from personal experiences, but use fiction to lift those experiences to a more universal story.
I made a performance about my life with ADHD, anxiety and panic disorder - and about how difficult I sometimes find it to be alone, both physically and in my head. Right now I'm working on a performance about my search for gender. In it, I want to share not only my experience of discovering my non-binarity, but also show the broader, recognizable experience: that we all, in our own way, have a relationship to gender. I am less interested in societal labels, and all the more interested in personal experience.
Who or what inspires you in your work? I draw my inspiration from themes such as mental health and gender identity. This partly comes from my roots in spoken word, where the 'I' is often the starting point.
I'm in my head a lot: that's where worlds, dialogues with myself, ideas and poems arise. Although my work is often of a solo nature, I cannot and do not want to create on my own. I need people around me, to spar with, to fuel my fire. The encounter is essential for me.
In addition, 'man an sich' inspires me. We are strange creatures, and that fascinates me immensely.
How can you best describe your style? I would describe my style as poetic absurdism, combined with dark humor and vulnerable stories. My work has a strong autofictive streak: it is rooted in personal experiences, but always seeks the connection to a greater whole.
Poetry is the starting point of my work. Through poetry you can experience the world through someone else's eyes. My texts often focus on the inner world.
In addition, physicality plays an important role in my work - both in text and performance. I am fascinated by the physical, the raw, the dirty. I use this fascination to alienate and surprise, in text and play.
What is your ambition? My biggest ambition is to keep telling stories. To share stories that matter, that touch people, and that take them into someone else's world of experience.
In the short term I am working on a performance about gender and my personal quest therein. My wish is that the audience not only sees my story, but is also invited to reflect on their own relationship to gender.
I also want to explore how poetry, spoken word, storytelling, theater and physical performance can merge in me. Not to reinvent the wheel, but to discover how I relate to these forms, and to understand better and better what I want to make - and why.
What role does the Parktheater play in realizing this ambition? The Parktheater offers me the space to fall and get up again. To experiment, to fail and to learn from it. As an autodidact, I often feel the pressure to prove myself as a professional artist, to show that I'm "allowed to participate.
By including me in the THINX trajectory, Parktheater expresses confidence in me. They support me on an artistic, facility and events level, help me sharpen my goals and make my dreams concrete. A safe place to grow.
What can visitors expect from your work? Visitors to my work can expect an intimate, raw and vulnerable experience. My performances combine poetry, storytelling and physical expression, and often seek out discomfort.
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