Toneelleesclub010 expands, including an English spoken Theatre Reading Club in Dokhuis

Toneelleesclub010 celebrates its four-year anniversary with new clubs. In February, Toneelleesclub Delfshaven will start at Altstadt and an English-language drama reading club at Dokhuis in Charlois. The three clubs in North, West and South will also restart in February after the winter break. Participation is free and all dates and locations can be read via this link.

During a Toneelleesclub010, participants come together to read a play aloud together without preparation. The roles are divided among the participants, each character is given his or her own voice. After each scene, roles are changed. Afterwards, you can have a nice chat over tea and coffee.

Toneelleesclub010 came into being in February 2022, after the last Corona lockdown. In Reading Room West. Founder and theatre-maker Brecht Hermans remembers it well: "I hoped at least five people would come, so we could divide the roles. But right at the first meeting, there were 17 participants! There was clearly a need to be together and experience something special together. Some participants from the first hour still come to the drama reading club today."

The success of Toneelleesclub West was followed in 2023 by the establishment of Toneelleesclub Noord in Theater 't Kapelletje and Toneelleesclub Zuid in Theater Zuidplein. "Those clubs run well," Brecht explains. "That's why we make occasional trips from the permanent venue to a meeting place in the neighbourhood. We already visited Gouwe (Kl)ouwe, Van Swietenhof, Tuin de Bajonet, Space101, Club Gewalt, Kunst- en Vliegfabriek. We also visited Altstadt and Dokhuis, which is how the conversations about new clubs began."

There had been an appetite for new drama reading clubs for some time, but Brecht had his hands full with the three existing clubs and his theatre work. So he hired new hosts in 2025. There was a great response to the vacancy: 40 people applied. From this group, Brecht carefully selected the new hosts Malika Soudani, Philisiwe Twijnstra and Vera Bonder. They will chair the various drama reading clubs together with Brecht from February onwards.

The success of Toneelleesclub010 has now also been noticed outside Rotterdam. Toneelleesclub010 works together with the National Theatre in The Hague and Kunstmin in Dordrecht, Schouwburg Amstelveen has set up a theatre reading club based on the Rotterdam model and there are ideas for a Toneelleesclub Tilburg. But Toneelleesclub010 remains primarily Rotterdam-based and dreams of getting all Rotterdammers into theatre reading.