This workshop explores Verloren Onschuld and Verloren Jeugd, a theatre diptych created by Rotterdams Wijktheater (Rotterdam Neighbourhood Theatre) in close collaboration with victims of the Dutch childcare benefits scandal. In this scandal, tens of thousands of families were falsely accused of fraud due to institutional racism, partly driven by a discriminatory algorithm that targeted people with non-Dutch surnames or from disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Families were forced to repay sums of up to €100,000: money they did not owe and did not have, causing deep and lasting harm.
Over three years, Rotterdams Wijktheater worked with affected residents of Rotterdam to transform lived experience into theatre, exposing systemic injustice through personal stories. The impact reached from neighbourhood centres to the Dutch Parliament. In this workshop, the makers reflect on how this impact was achieved and why they chose, after the theatre diptych, to create two short films, now used in the onboarding programme of the national recovery organisation to confront new staff with the human consequences of this scandal.
Rotterdams Wijktheater | Workshop | The Netherlands