Artistic direction is in the hands of Wijnand Stomp, alias Mister Anansi, who creates narratives performances in which his colourful origins play an important role. He derives much of his inspirations from the Antilles, his mother country. His theatrical, physical style of acting and narrating brings the characters from his stories to life, encouraging the children to use their imagination. Together with other makers and narrators, age-old maxims and folktales are given modern twist and related to our everyday lives.
Shows put on by Kalebas Produkties stand out for the personal character of narratives.
The story-teller asks himself and his audience the same question: who am i? Hearing stories from the past or from other worlds can help to define your own self-image. The more you know about culture, the richer you are.
The stories narrated by Kalebas are cheerfull, mischievous and compelling. Themes can range from cunning and deception to vulnerability and identity, but regardless of the mood performances are always both comical and moving.
Kalebas has made various tours of the Dutch Antilles and Great Britain. Productions such as Zus en Mathilde/ Sister and Matilda. Tante Jewels Talentenshow - Aunt Jewels Talentshow, Mister Anansi and Lisa en de Gestolen Winter - Lisa en the stolen Winter were also performed in Suriname, on Aruba, the Dutch Antillies and China. Stomp has also given a number of narrative workshops abroad.
Together with Stichting Vista, he made a documentary about Anansi story–tellers in Ghana, where he also performed in front of the Dutch Embassy and in the British Arts Council.
Heimwee/ Homesick a show in which the actress Soula Notos (Greece) tells her own story about being homesick and Mister Anansi, by Stomp, are also suitable for foreign tours.
Wijnand Stomp is an idiosyncratic link in the world of the great narrative traditions. Over the years he has developed a style that is peculiarly his own. The energetic mixture of physical, musical, visual and textual elements determines the strength of his performances. By now he has secured a place for himself in the theatre circuit. Wijnand Stomp is a theatrical storyteller. With humour, infectious naughtiness and a touch of sagacity he holds young and old riveted to their seats with his folk tales and myths from the West and the Caribbean. They form the basis of universal theatre: old stories are updated and dressed in new clothes. He has a wonderful mimic, with a voice that is conspiratorial and mysterious. When the serpent of his stories starts to twist, you imagine for a brief moment that you are in another world.
"Mask? Costume? The storyteller does not need any of that, and yet this performance is a colourful procession of lively figures. Stomp creates one of his finest stories, in which he has incorporated elements of old African spider stories. A virtuoso story that settles in your head. You can call it virtual reality, it is also the human power of imagination."
The people who keep Kalebas up and running are:
Wijnand Stomp
Available during office hours on Monday through Thursday (unless he’s on tour)
wijnand@kalebas.nl
Mr. Stomp is an allround perfomer and theatre maker. As the creative brain at Kalebas he has been making
Sheila Matthes
Avalable during office hours on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
sheila@kalebas.nl
Tatiana Bury
Available during office hours on on Monday through Friday
tatiana@kalebas.nl
Tatiana herself is the answer to all the questions u may have about the sale and marketing of the bookings at Kalebas.
Hans Vulink
Available during office hours on Monday through Thursday
hans@kalebas.nl
Questions about the technical procedures for the bookings? Hans is your man.
Kalebas is also a well known company under students in the entertainment world.
At the moment Kalebas has 2 trainee’s who are job training at the office/ on tour.
Nadine Drost
Available during office hours on Monday through Friday
nadine@kalebas.nl
Dieudonnee Ostiana
Available during office hours on Monday through Wednesday
dieudonnee@kalebas.nl
Kalebas is funded by :
www.ocenw.nl
