This time, we’d like to introduce you to creator Jessie L’Herminez. She creates unique performances that blend text, physical theater, and musicality. This season, she is directing the production Café Brabant. Between 2025 and 2028, we will produce an annual project in Brabant, for Brabant, and with Brabant. In 2026, this will take the form of a production: Café Brabant. It is being created by director Jessie L’Herminez, who, yes, has roots in Brabant. Café Brabant is her first production with Het Zuidelijk Toneel.

In Café Brabant, we follow the regulars of a bar teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. They cling to their tables, their routines, and each other, because this bar is their home. The bar owner holds her ground like a captain on her own Titanic. The band plays on until the very last sip and sob. For this performance, Jessie collaborates with a cast consisting of professional actors, amateur actors, and the band JUUK.

Hey Jessie, for those who aren’t familiar with your work yet, what exactly is a typical “Jessie” performance?

I create performances in which humor and tragedy coexist. There’s an element of absurdism, surrealism, or fantasy, which requires careful consideration in choosing movement and staging. I want a performance to provoke questions in the audience, and there must also be a sense of playfulness. I prefer to let go of the fourth wall, but never say never. 

Starting April 5, “Café Brabant” will be performed at various theaters in Brabant. Where did you get the inspiration for this show?

Conversations about my homesickness for Brabant, which I still experience regularly, formed the basis for my show. There are traditional pubs everywhere, but for me, there are a few in Eindhoven and Tilburg that always feel like places where I’m welcome. Where you can strike up a conversation, whether you know the people or not. That’s something I really miss.

My inspiration comes from various sources: Hans Schnitzler’s essay, *Philosophy of the Pub*, the book *Heimwee en Vertepijn* by Joke Hermsen, the imagination of the actors, the creative ideas of Joachim (dramaturg at Het Zuidelijk Toneel), Femke (my assistant director), and Tie Schellekens, my muse and one of the actors in Café Brabant.

As someone coming from Brabant, what does Brabant mean to you?

It’s a longing for the small, ordinary moments: striking up a casual conversation with a stranger, the openness, the sense of perspective, and the humor. But also having time off during Carnival and having friends and pubs so close by. 

Are there certain situations or scenes in the play where you recognize yourself?

Absolutely. One of my favorite moments is Kimberley’s monologue, which beautifully captures the ambivalence of Brabant. The Burgundian spirit of Brabant feels loving and warm, but at the same time, there’s massive support for the PVV. I recognize that “nationalistic” heart of Brabant, but at the same time I wonder: if we become too nostalgic, aren’t we also excluding others?

My other favorite scene is called “Back to the Womb.” I often imagine that all homesickness has something to do with the sense of security we experience in the womb. Ultimately, we might find our own sense of home in seeing another person and recognizing ourselves in them.