Beyond Validism: Our Vision for Inclusion at Stichting De Theaterdagen 

At Stichting De Theaterdagen — home to the Nederlands Theater Festival, Amsterdam Fringe Festival and our shared PRO‑programme — we work toward a future where the theatre sector is inclusive and accessible for everyonewho wants to create, experience and share it. 

For us, inclusion is a broad commitment: it means recognising, questioning and removing systems that exclude people. In this document, we focus specifically on the position of makers, workers and audiences from the disabilityarts community. Not because inclusion is limited to these groups, but because our festivals, our policies and the wider sector urgently need concrete change here. 

Our ambition is to create structural diversity and representation within our festivals and the cultural field at large — especially for theatre makers and workers who identify as part of the disability arts community*. In doing so, we aim to contribute to a sector where multiple perspectives can exist equally. 

Show, Don’t Tell 

We put inclusion into practice. This means that we: 

• support representation on stage by listening to the needs and possibilities of makers from the disability arts community; 

• actively involve makers from the disability arts community in panel talks, programmes and our funding plans; 

• build long‑term collaborations with experts and professionals from the disability arts community; 

• anchor our values around inclusion and accessibility in our multi‑year and policy plans. 

This requires space in our organisation, our team, our programming and our budget. Inclusion and accessibility are not an add‑on or a separate project — they are part of how we work. 

From Symbol to Substance 

We want to move beyond symbolic gestures. Inclusion and accessibility mean that makers and staff from the disability arts community are fully part of everything we do. Not “next to” or “for”, but with. From the stage toproduction, from audience experience to decision‑making. 

We recognise that real accessibility is not only about practical adjustments. It is also about agency, representation, artistic freedom, structural involvement and communication. We follow the expertise of professionals, experiencedmakers and audiences from the community. 

Meeting and Connecting 

A wider diversity of makers not only creates equal opportunities — it also enriches and renews the arts. Real change happens through meeting, exchange and collaboration. That’s why we create moments where makers can trulyconnect, learn from each other and work together. 

Stichting De Theaterdagen is building a continuous chain of development and visibility, where makers can network, grow and be seen. Perspectives from the disability arts community form the foundation of this work, so we cansupport each maker in their development. At the same time, this focus helps us look more broadly at accessibility and representation across the sector. 

Let’s Move Together 

We are working toward a movement that reaches beyond our own festivals. In 2025, Erika Zeegers and Nikki Manuputty initiated the network Let’s Move Together: a group of makers within and outside the disability arts community. As of April 2026, the platform includes around twenty makers and organisations. Within this network, we get to know each other, build alliances and create plans for a more inclusive cultural future. 

The next step is to formalise and maintain this platform. By collaborating with partners such as Het Nationale Theater, No Limits Festival, Toneelschuur Producties, Oerol and PodiumINC, we highlight what is already happening andstrengthen connections within the inclusive performing arts field. 

Our goal is to create chains of development between festivals, organisations and makers. Erika works with us to anchor this vision — and its implementation — in our policies. 

During our own festivals, we organise the programme Common Ground together with the Meervaart, focusing on inclusive making practices. 

The Maker’s Voice at the Centre 

The question we keep returning to is: 

“When do you feel in your power — as a maker, performer and visitor?” 

This is where we build from. We see inclusion not as an addition, but as an artistic and structural development that strengthens the entire sector. It is essential that we work toward more diversity and representation on and off stage — within the Nederlands Theater Festival, Amsterdam Fringe Festival and ultimately the cultural sector as a whole. 

At the same time, we do not see this as a separate trajectory. What we learn from the disability arts community helps us look more broadly at exclusion, accessibility and representation in the sector. 

We believe that the key to real accessibility lies in listening, taking each other’s experiences seriously and recognising each other’s expertise. Seeing each other as equals. Not placing ourselves, our positions or the art we make above or below someone else’s work. 

This is what we mean by radical equality. 

We acknowledge that we are learning, and we actively seek out each other’s expertise. Together, we build a theatre sector where people feel represented and empowered. 

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Quotes 

“An inclusive field is not only a matter of justice — it also holds enormous potential for artistic innovation.” — Erik‑Ward Geerlings, Artistic Director of Theater Babel and member of Let’s Move Together 

“It’s wonderful that Stichting De Theaterdagen is so committed to creating an accessible and inclusive theatre world. These plans will mean a lot to makers who still feel unseen, and to audiences who don’t yet feel addressed. As a production house, we wholeheartedly support this vision and gladly exchange knowledge throughout everyone’s learning process.” 
 — Fabian Pikula, Head of Toneelschuur Producties (partner) 

“At Oerol, we also work toward a sustainable movement for an inclusive arts landscape where people with and without disabilities participate equally — as makers, staff and audience. Not the disability, but the talent and the way itcan grow, is central.” 
 — Sabine Pater, Artistic Director of Oerol (partner) 

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*The disability arts community is an inclusive movement that goes beyond “making art”: it is about ownership and representation, breaking stereotypes and creating accessibility — both in the creative process and in the final work. 

Art becomes a space where individuals form a collective, and where identity, activism and imagination contribute to social change.