Escape the Dutch
Escape the Dutch is a theatrical reenactment that looks closely at Dutch WhatsApp Crime Prevention groups (WhatsApp Buurtpreventie) to expose and counteract their discriminatory policing practices. The performance confronts the audience with how fear and suspicion grow in these group chats, reflecting what happens in Dutch neighbourhoods today.
These WhatsApp Crime Prevention groups (WhatsApp Buurtpreventie) of residents watch over their neighbourhoods for supposed intruders, often driven by racist and xenophobic beliefs. This leads to social and ethnic profiling and false accusations in the name of crime prevention. Public space becomes a stage where each passerby is a potential suspect.
Directed by Daniel Holler, two actors reenact a WhatsApp group chat. Each act explores how fear of outsiders spirals into policing behaviour, while retaining the often absurd interactions of the members. As director, set designer, and screenwriter, Holler reveals the racial issues in these citizen policing chats, examining how treating some people as ‘others’ through the play’s dramatic style.
Project by: Daniel Holler in collaboration with MA Social Design, Design Academy Eindhoven