About 60 staff members watched the first performance of Mindlab, which will run up to 22 November at TU Delft, on Monday morning. What did they think of the play about the lack of social safety?
Scene in Mindlab. (Photo: Theatermakers Radio Kootwijk)
“Very heavy, but beautiful and important at the same time.” After the Mindlab performance and discussions, Theda Olsder is talking to her I&IC colleague Caroline Kohlmann. “I feel very bad that I never noticed what was going on at I&IC,” says Olsder. “It made me want to work on social safety more.” It is what gave her the strength to come to the play, like Kohlmann, who leaves with mixed feelings. “On the one hand, it makes me feel uncomfortable but on the other hand, I feel encouraged to take action.”
They were two of the 60 people who attended Mindlab’s first performance on Monday morning. The play about social safety in the academic world was produced by Theatermakers Radio Kootwijk and will be performed for TU Delft employees 12 times at the Lijm & Cultuur event venue up to 22 November. The objective is to present a collective experience that can ensure that the discussion about social safety continues after the performance.
The intention is not for visitors to return to their work spaces immediately after the performance. Instead, they can stay for lunch and join tables with questions and facilitators at the ready for people to talk in small groups about the play. The producers of Mindlab had previously told Delta that the play needs to get under your skin. “Simple recognition is not enough. It needs to go further. We hope that people feel it.”
New worrying insights
After the performance it turns out that this is working. I&IC staff member Kohlmann recognised what was portrayed in the performance. She thought it was impressive, she says, and thinks that the play shows how important it is to trust your gut feeling. Fleur Vermeulen, Subsidy Advisor, walks outside under a cloud. The play brought up ‘new worrying insights’. “The play shows that people really get stuck in their roles. It is unclear who they would help should there be a major problem.” One particular character in the play made Assistant Professor Toeno van der Sar feel especially uncomfortable. “It was hard to watch someone showing such inappropriate behaviour.”
Earlier, Oliver Sueur, Interim Head of the Integrity Office, told Delta that the intention is that at least half of TU Delft employees go to see Mindlab. In 2023, TU Delft had 8,356 employees. That means Sueur’s target is still a way off – on Tuesday morning, the number of registrations was 593. Two of the 12 performances were cancelled as they did not reach the minimum of 30 attendees. The maximum number of people for each performance is 80, but this can go up to 110 if there is a large demand. The theatre company will return in January for the second series.
Nevertheless, Daphne Goudsmit, Business Director of the theatre company, is happy with the turnout. “And definitely if you think that it was only communicated five weeks ago.” Haley Lancaster, Mindlab Project Leader at the Integrity Office, also does not think it is a bad thing that not all the seats were filled. “A smaller number suits this intimate setting well.”
Common elements
The idea is that Mindlab helps keep the collective discussion about social safety going. How does Lancaster think this can be done? One way is by closely looking at the input from the discussions she says. “Everyone had the chance to write down their suggestions after the performance. We will list the common elements and feed them back to the organisation. And for us it is also a way to check if we are doing the right things.”
She says that Mindlab is not something ‘ready-made and demonstrable’ to display at the Inspectorate of Education. “The idea is that it helps make us aware of the problems in a different way. And that can be a different form of art. It touches your feelings instead of your rationality.” It can be hard to continually carry out ‘the discussion’. “I’ve heard that people have become tired of it. Everyone wants the social safety problem to be solved, but changing a culture takes a very long time.”
‘This time I saw even more subtleties and it brought about an even deeper level of reflection’
Just Herder, Professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and department head, saw the play for the second time. As a department leader, he attended the first performance in the Auditorium in April. It touched him yet again. “I thought the first time was great. But this time I saw even more subtleties and it brought about an even deeper level of reflection.”
Executive Board
He is a discussion facilitator in the post-play discussions this morning, a role for which he did a special training course. Something in the discussions struck him. “Today I heard people say that they need the support from above, in particular from the Executive Board. They believe it is essential that the Executive Board members show that they really believe that social safety is very important.”
Herder believes that this is related to their role in setting a good example. “In any case, I believe that there is not enough awareness throughout the organisation. Just think about a doctoral candidate who supervises a final year student, that person has an exemplary role too. How we put this into practice trickles down from above. So it is a precondition that everything must be good at the very top, in the Executive Board.”
Want to experience Mindlab?
Mindlab will be performed twelve times between Monday, November 11 and Friday, November 22 in Lijm & Cultuur, the cultural center on the Rotterdamseweg within biking and walking distance of the TU Delft campus.
The performances are intended for TU Delft employees. Some are reserved for particular faculties; at others all university employees are welcome. After the performance, follow-up interviews will take place.
– Check the website for exact times and more information. Registering can be done on the website as well.
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