“Motto”
― Bertolt Brecht
In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing.
About the dark times.”
The Willem Geertman Cultural Ensemble
The Willem Geertman Cultural Ensemble, is an activist cultural group, a street theatre ensemble, and a choir.
We are inspired by the core values of Willem Geertman, a Dutch internationalist and solidarity worker who sacrificed his life in solidarity to the Filipino people. He strongly believed in international unity and the solidarity of working people; concern for the rights and welfare of the poor, oppressed and exploited; and care for the environment. As Willem would say, “They say we are weak and poor. But our strength is our unity. United, no problem is too big for us to solve.”
(Watch this video to get to know Willem Geertman https://youtu.be/Nu4tRmp0t10)
We believe that this world, the common earth, belongs to toilers—the working people—and not the spoilers of genuine democracy and the environment.
We are cultural activists and artists who have come together to contribute our energies, talents and skills to support efforts towards genuine revolutionary social change.
We perform at mass demonstrations and public protest gatherings/assemblies. We deliver our performances as creative statements about the matters that confront the oppressed and exploited classes of society.
Our works will include modern and traditional political songs, poetry, and skits, banners and posters, effigies and puppets—works that depict the sufferings of the oppressed and exploited, their courageous resistance, and their noble aspirations such as revolutionary democracy, economic development for the masses, and true people’s power.
We will perform as an ensemble – in as many configurations as possible. We will perform with our props and costumes, in militant tableaux and movements, sing rousing songs, recite revolutionary poetry, act out agitating skits, and march with our colourful banners and majestic giant puppets. Our performances will serve the interests of the oppressed and exploited. We will share our techniques and materials so that other groups may use and learn from them.
We will perform at parties, demonstrations, political meetings, and gatherings where we are invited to. We will also perform at events we are not invited to, in order to disrupt reactionary and anti-people gatherings. We will develop close links with progressive and revolutionary organisations in the Netherlands, in many countries in Europe and the world.
Our initial repertoire:
The Internationale
Einheidsfront
Solidariteitslied
Resolution of the Communards
Bread and Roses
El Pueblo Unido
Working Class Unite
Just drop by during the open rehearsal evening. You don’t have to ‘sing to us’. You can participate for free a number of times. Only then do you decide whether you want to become a member. We don’t have a waiting list!