SUPERDRUM by De Veenfabriek and Touki Delphine is a thrilling, mechanical, and relentless creation story.
The world tilts. Humanity disappears as the machines advance. What remains?
How do you ensure that the story of humankind is not lost?
February 5, 2026
Leiden
Ins Blau
February 6, 2026
Leiden
Ins Blau
February 17, 2026
Amsterdam
Frascati
February 18, 2026
Amsterdam
Frascati
February 26, 2026
Rotterdam
Theater Rotterdam
March 4, 2025
Arnhem
Musis en Stadstheater
March 6, 2025
Nijmegen
LUX
March 13, 2026
Dordrecht
Kunstmin
March 14, 2025
Culemborg
Gederlandfabriek
April 2, 2026
Den Haag
Het Nationale Theater
April 9, 2026
Breda
Chassé Theater
April 16, 2026
Amsterdam
Bijlmerparktheater
April 23, 2026
Haarlem
Schuur
On stage stands the Superdrum: a monstrous construction of a hundred drums, played with recycled materials salvaged from car wrecks. From squeaking windshield-wiper motors to clicking switches. Here, the machine drives the beat, while actress Jacobien Elffers, as the last human, tries to pass on what is about to fade away. How did the beginning sound? How does the end sound? And above all: how does our story survive when there is no one left to tell it?
SUPERDRUM is a poetic performance about being human, forgetting, thinking slowly, and the wisdom of not knowing everything. De Veenfabriek and Touki Delphine juxtapose various creation myths, from Swahili legends to half-remembered Scandinavian sagas. To the rhythm of the Superdrum, we thunder through time — from natural to artificial evolution, and from the first human to the last.
She says: “You don’t know everything yet. You can never know everything. You don’t know how we came to be. You don’t know which things I have forgotten.”
The machine says: “Then tell me.”
Credits:
Text: Joeri Vos
Composition and music: Bo Koek, Rik Elstgeest, and Chris Doyle
Direction: Joeri Vos and Rik Elstgeest
Installation: John van Oostrum
Performance: Jacobien Elffers
Acquisition & tour planning: Bureau Berbee & Jansen
“Jacobien Elffers once again proves herself to be one of the most fascinating actresses in this country.” ★★★★
– NRC on Lof der Zotheid
“It is thrilling, ominous music [by Touki Delphine]: references to march rhythms and the hunt are cleverly and wittily mixed with pleading car-horn sounds.”★★★★
– de Volkskrant on Het Zomeroffer
“Is there anyone in the Dutch performing arts who can match the emotional intensity and precision of Jacobien Elffers? The actor places every sentence, word, and glance so precisely, with such an unerring sense of timing and emotional impact.”
– Marijn Lems / Theaterkrant, on MARIA MARIA MARIA by Veenfabriek (Critics’ Choice)