Atkritka is a theatrical performance by Cowboy Bij Nacht. It is based on the documentary film Checkpoint of Yoav Shamir, concerning the social intercourse between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian citizens at checkpoints around the Palestinian areas. For this play, I composed a multichannel soundtrack.

In Atkritka, the tensed situation around the checkpoints is stripped of almost all visual context in six succesive scenes. As a contrast, I tried to ‘fill in’ this stripped context with a ‘hyperrealistic’ soundscape. Sounds were treated as objects; several small speakers on the stage played back concrete sounds of birds, insects, cars, etc., within a surrounding soundscape of 4 bigger speakers around the stage, each scene resembling a different desolate atmosphere.

This project is made by:

• Rosa Mee, Greg Nottrot, Hok Tan, Çigdem Teke (Actors)
• Alexander de Vree (Director)
• Robert van Dijk (Tekst)
• Andrea Jacobs (Stagedesign)
• Arnold Hoogerwerf (Sound-/Lightdesign)
• Jorgen Schellekens (Technician)
• Sascha van Veen (Production)
• Alba Theaterhuis (Producer)
• Paul Wolterink (Graphic Design)

This project is performed:

• dec 7 — dec 16 2006, Theaterhuis Alba, Den Haag (NL)
• dec 20 — dec 23 2006, Villa Concordia, Utrecht (NL)