Paul Depla expertly guided HZT through the corona period, and under his chairmanship, the company underwent a transition to a completely new executive team consisting of Sarah Moeremans (artistic) and Rick Spaan (business) with a fresh new direction based on the principles of Fun, Fiction, and Futureproof. Now that Het Zuidelijk Toneel is firmly established both artistically and commercially, Depla has indicated he can confidently hand over the chairmanship, believing in the future of HZT.

The Supervisory Board trusts that with Joris Bengevoord, a worthy successor has been found. 
As the sitting mayor of Winterswijk, Bengevoord will say goodbye to that municipality this summer after eight years to start as Dijkgraaf of Brabant Delta in October 2025. He has a broad (inter)national network, possesses political-administrative sensitivity, and has extensive experience with governance issues. Bengevoord is also no stranger to Tilburg; he was a member of the municipal council of Tilburg from 2010 to 2017 and was the informateur and formateur of the new college in 2022. During his time as mayor of Winterswijk, he remained connected to Tilburg through his chairmanship of the Supervisory Board of Poppodium 013. He will step down from this role in the autumn of 2025.

Joris Bengevoord excels at building bridges between policy and practice and knows how to create room for artistic development through his chairmanship while maintaining clear frameworks and continuity. Bengevoord sees the chairmanship as an opportunity to continue linking his administrative strength to his passion for culture.