To be(come): Theatrical co-creation empowering the voice of adolescents
Two-year research project
Promoter: Bob Selderslaghs
In the Utopia of actress, maker, and researcher Sanderijn Helsen, teenagers have a full-blown voice in the design of society. This vision has fueled her passion for theatrical co-creation with young audiences for twenty-five years.
Since 2022, she has been realizing a Teen Trilogy, in which young people are not only spectators but also active contributors to the artistic process. For the first two parts, De Puberfluisteraar (2023, De Studio) and Jeanne (2025, De Studio), teenagers contributed as muses, brainstorm partners, and coaches.
In parallel, Helsen defined her co-creation method, the Perspectives Carousel, during a pilot study (Conservatoire, 2024-2025). She describes it as a ‘pressure cooker’ for co-creation derived from several artistic and theatrical perspectives.
To be(come), the final part of the Teen Trilogy, anchors co-creation in research. Working with 85 adolescents on the threshold of adulthood (aged 17–19), Helsen will develop a collective manifesto aimed at the adults who raised them and at the emerging adult within themselves. This manifesto will be staged and performed in De studio by three adolescents, young professional musician Willem Theerens, and Helsen herself. By engaging the young participants as co-authors and co-performers, Helsen radicalizes the artistic ownership of adolescents with To be(come).
The research process is framed by the principles of Participatory Action Research, with the Perspectives Carousel forming the pivot of the creative process. Helsen will publish participant observations during the research and develop an online platform as a sustainable source of knowledge about theatrical co-creation with young people.
Image: Analogue soundsystem of To be(come) composer Willem Theerens
Sanderijn Helsen
researcher
Sanderijn Helsen (°1977) is an actress, theatre maker and researcher. After graduating from Studio Herman Teirlinck, she worked with companies such as Toneelhuis, Theater Malpertuis, Schippers & Van Gucht and Froefroe/ de Roovers. Driven by her passion for music, she developed a hybrid form of theatre concerts, merging spoken word with electronics.
For 25 years, Helsen’s practice has focused on co-creation with young audiences (e.g., Kopergietery, Bronks, De Veerman). She founded the laboratory Jong Wild, placing artistic ownership of the young participants at the heart of the process. As an artist-in-residence at De Studio, she is currently realizing a ‘Teen Trilogy’. Following 'De Puberfluisteraar' (2023) and 'Jeanne' (2025), she is now developing the final part, 'To be(come)'.
The creation of this final piece is explicitly anchored in research within the research group CORPoREAL at the Conservatoire. In this context, Helsen refines her method into a sharable tool for theatrical co-creation.
Her work bridges the gap between artistic quality, participatory research, education and social change.