How political is theatre? What do plays have to do with Brexit? And how has theatre shaped (and commented on) political developments in the past?

In this episode of In a Nutshell, Antonia and guest Ruud van den Beuken explore how political topics can be explored in theatre – and ask the question whether theatre is always the best way to address certain political issues, especially when it comes to class in Britain.

Ruud van den Beuken is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Arts. His own theatre research has started with a course on Samuel Beckett and Irish theatre, which was also the topic of his PhD research. Amongst other things, Ruud is researching Brexit theatre, national identity formation (also through theatre) and postcolonial cultural memory.

Would you like to learn more about the politics of theatre? Then follow Ruud’s advise and watch some theatre plays yourself. Including Sadettin Kirmiziyuz's Citzen K, available on the NPO streaming service.

This episode is part of a two-part series on politics and theatre. Also tune in for the second episode, which explores AIDS theatre.

Edit: Jara Majerus

Cover: Antonia Leise

Why should kids not choose where they sit in a classroom? How does where we sit affect our relationships and chances of success, both socially and academically?

In the third episode of In a Nutshell, host Jara explores seating plans, distance, and proximity. Together with her guest, Yvonne van den Berg, she investigates why it matters where we sit and how we use distance to communicate our feelings.

Yvonne is an assistant professor of developmental psychology. In her research, she investigates how proximity influences our social relationships, with a particular focus on the role that physical proximity plays in classroom social dynamics.

Would you like to learn more about the importance of physical proximity? Make sure to follow Yvonne’s recommendations and read Relationships 5.0 by Elyakim Kislev, or check out the experiment mentioned by Yvonne on YouTube.

Edit: Jara Majerus

Cover: Antonia Leise

Can we predict the future? How is identity shaped by the past? And how can history help with making sense of our present? In today’s episode, Antonia and guest Adriaan Duiveman go – quite literally – back to the future and talk about how a historian ends up studying a time that hasn’t even happened yet. And why being a “futurologist” is anything but straight-forward. Adriaan Duiveman is a postdoc at the Faculty of Arts, where he researches crises – and the stories citizens, authorities and opinion makers tell in and about them. Would you like to learn more about the future, the past and the present (or at least one way of looking at it)? Then Adriaan recommends the novel “Time Shelter” by Georgi Gospodinov.

Edit: Jara Majerus

Cover: Antonia Leise