Buikzwam - Kompagnie Kistemaker

"You're just being dramatic, you have a low pain threshold, this is normal, just take a paracetamol"

Theatre maker Karlijn Kistemaker visited her GP 17 times with severe abdominal pain. After years of dismissive gestures, painkillers and diets, she stumbled upon an article about Birgit Schuurman, who describes having endometriosis. Shortly after, Karlijn receives her own diagnosis - from a doctor who casually adds: "Oh, and do you want children?" What follows is a journey through tissue landscapes, blobs of cold gel, hormone injections and the recurring question: do I want a child, or do I want it to happen?

1 in 10 people with female reproductive anatomy has endometriosis - nearly 500,000 people in the Netherlands and 200 million worldwide. How can this disease be so unknown? And why did it take 24 years for Karlijn to get a diagnosis?

In her solo Buikzwam, she reports on her experiences with endometriosis and fertility problems in a darkly comic way, and on encounters with fellow sufferers in bleak waiting rooms and on obscure internet forums.

Kompagnie Kistemaker creates documentary theatre with magical elements - contrasting, funny and personal. The company won the BNG Bank Theatre Prize 2019 and the Joop Mulder Recognition Award (2021). Theaterkrant wrote: "Buikzwam is a small, important production about a big subject. A production that deserves a wide audience."

Credits
Text, concept & performance: Karlijn Kistemaker | Sound design: Chris Koopman | Scenography & costume: Calle de Hoog | Final direction: Eva Meijering | Writing mentorship: Maaike Bergstra | Production: Judith Rosendaal, Vera Andeweg | Graphic design: Michiel van der Werf | With thanks to: Theater Oostpool | Photo: Laurien Riha