About WOW-EFFECT Theater

WOW-EFFECT Theater is a non-profit multicultural amateur theatre community located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. We write, produce and perform our own theatre plays in the English language with members from all walks of life and different cultural backgrounds.

Our Mission

Our goals are threefold:

  • We aim to practice and promote amateur theatre in its broadest sense, including the dramatic expression and skills involved in producing a theatrical production.
  • Furthermore, we aim to contribute to the internationalization and cultural diversification of Nijmegen by building bridges between people from diverse cultural backgrounds. We offer a safe space for our members to connect through the medium of art, and we promote our plays broadly.
  • We also endorse our community to create its own repertoire of original plays with social / societal themes and impact.

Our History

Founded in 2014, WOW-EFFECT Theater has put several successful original and existing plays on the stages of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Utrecht and Kleve (Germany).

  • We were chosen to be the first in-house amateur theatre group of De Lindenberg, working together with their staff to improve our project “The Lost Boy“.
  • We participated in the amateur theatre festival “The Play of Nijmegen” and were able to get into the finals.
  • We performed our play “Inbetween” in Lindenberg as well as in de Kliff in Nijmegen-Noord, in the Zimihc Theater Wittevrouwen in Utrecht and the Theater Het Hof in Arnhem.
  • We crossed the borders with our play “Home Again”, and not only performed it twice in Thiemeloods (Bottendaal) but also in the XOX Theater in Kleve, Germany.

We furthermore offer a free workshop at the beginning of each theatre season to the general public and have offered Dutch-languaged workshop for the residents of the neighborhood Wolfskuil. We have worked together with the Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss (AstA; General Student’s Committee) from the Hochschule Rhein-Waal in Germany, aiming to connect students, teachers and expats in Germany with their Dutch counterparts in Nijmegen.

We have also done outreach programs with and for refugees. Our second play of 2016 (“Home Again”) was written with help by refugees in Nijmegen (Heumensoord) and in the Niederrhein area of Germany. We worked together with the XOX Theater in Kleve to bring the performance on stage there and worked with the Haus der Begegnung (a meeting place for locals and refugees) to promote and shape this performance.

Our Values

We are one of the most inclusive and democratic communities, like ever. Until now, we never held auditions while accepting new members, we simply welcomed everyone in. Also, we have chosen most of our plays with our whole team voting on ideas. Apart from these, we are committed to a few fundamental values.

  • Diversity: We not only come from different cultural backgrounds, but we are at different ages, busy with different studies / occupations, have different gender identities, consider different things food, have different personal limitations or talents… Keeping harmony in such a diverse community naturally requires good communication, respect, tolerance, trust and fairness.
  • Learning: We are a learning organization, and we are proud of it! Most of our members start their journey in WE without much experience in acting or theatrical productions. So we try to provide them the platform to experiment, learn from mistakes, and learn from each other. We also try to spare resources for our collective learning (by workshops for example).
  • Cooperation: We highly value the bonds we build with other individuals, organizations and groups in the (amateur) art community, and we believe supporting each other on various occasions is the best way this community can function. We for example share posts from other groups on our Facebook page, and we organize a shared rehearsal with different groups each year.
jekyll rehearsal

Annual Events

Each year we hold a few events at different points in the season.

  • Free acting workshop: Around each September-October, we offer a workshop full of acting and team building exercises, as well as improv games, to anyone who is interested in and fully for free. The workshoppers who liked the experience join our team for the upcoming production.
  • Alumni gathering: Traditionally on the first Saturday of December, we get together with current and previous WOW-EFFECTers for some fun times.
  • Shared rehearsal: 27 march, World Theatre Day, is all about cooperation, collaboration and love for us. What better to way to celebrate it than sharing a rehearsal with 1-2 other groups? We get to bond, learn from each other’s acting / directing styles, give each other feedback… And last but not least, share some beers after 😉
  • Open Rehearsal: April 1st is our birthday and it’s no joke. Each year, as a celebration, we open our doors to our fans and welcome them to a rehearsal where we not only share some progress from our current production but also enjoy some acting exercises together.

We cherish all these events very much. And we hope to have you in one of them!

Is your group interested in sharing a rehearsal with us around 27 march? Please contact us! We’d love to hear from you!

Team 2018 2019

Become a part of WOW-EFFECT

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    Once a year WOW-EFFECT opens its doors to everyone who’d like to try out theatre for themselves, offering a free try-out time with workshops and acting lessons. Whoever stays will be part of the next performance the group plans. Everyone can audition for the parts in the group’s next play and everyone gets involved in its production as much as desired.

    Are you interested in being part of WOW-EFFECT? Just fill this contact form. We would love to hear from you!