Yes... you have a spectacular idea for your show! Imagine, if you will: a large pond in the academy’s theatre, 4 by 4 metres and half a metre deep. Seven actors will be performing in the pond. The audience will be seated around it.

Now only the PRI&E (Productional Risk Inventory & Evaluation) has to be filled in still. Can it be done safely? Bas de Bruijn: “Yes, that’s possible, but alarm bells start ringing in my head with such an idea. A great deal of thought is required to turn such an idea into reality.”

Cold exposure and scary illnesses
Just think about it. What happens if that pond starts leaking? The wooden floor of the theatre hall will rot away in that case, not to mention all the other damage that will be caused by the leak. And what do you do with those invisible, but extremely dangerous, bacteria that grow every day in stagnant water? Actors and the audience would become critically ill if they contracted legionella. So, that pond needs to be emptied every day and filled with fresh water the following day. And will the actors survive after performing in ice-cold water for one and half hours? Cold exposure and hypothermia are ever-present dangers.

Faking with reflective film
Bas knows and sees all the potential risks. However, that’s not the focus of his conversation with students. “What I do is to ask questions, such as: What is your intention with the water? What do you want to achieve with it? Does it really have to be water?” Because he knows that you can also achieve the impression of water with a projection. Or you can fake the pond theatrically by using reflective film. But wait, what if the performers have to be wet? “In that case, they can put their head in a bucket of water and let it drip down over them. Then they’ll also be wet!”

Bas and his team come up with creative solutions. “We never say no, but we’re happy to brainstorm creative solutions with you!” They have thousands of solutions at the ready. “That’s also what I find so enjoyable about my work as a Technical Producer: how do you ensure that the students’ artistic ideas become a reality – in the safest possible way?”

Diving board on the eighth storey
Another example of brainstorming creative solutions is the time that a student wanted to install a real diving board on the roof of the academy, eight storeys above the street. He wanted to deliver his monologue at the tip of the diving board: to jump or not to jump? “We ensured everything was totally in order in a technical sense, which included a secret safety line for the actor and secure installation of the diving board. But what if someone on the street would look up? They would be scared to death.” We couldn’t proceed with this idea based on social safety concerns. Therefore, Bas sat down with the student to discuss how the essence of the idea could still be realised. “We built a sloping platform in the theatre where the actor sat, attached to an invisible harness, high above the audience. That still felt very intimidating.”

Tons of damage caused by... salt!
Things do go completely wrong sometimes, such as one particular case a number of years ago. The floor of the theatre hall in the academy (20 by 17 metres) was covered with a few tons of salt. Bas: “It looked wonderful with the actors on it, because salt has a very beautiful structure.” However, the salt became drier and drier over the course of the week, and it started to blow around everywhere. Plus: salt readily adheres to metal, which has a corrosive effect. “Everything in the theatre had to be professionally cleaned; we had a lot of damaged equipment”

But the worst was yet to come, he recalls. The ventilation duct for the entire school turned out to be contaminated with salt and started to rust. “There was a gigantic amount of damage and I’m talking about hundreds of thousands of euros. And who’s going to pay for all that?” Could this have been prevented? “Absolutely. If the salt had been kept wet every day, it wouldn’t have blown around everywhere. Unfortunately, something went wrong in the pre-production stage.”

Nice and sneaky?
That is precisely why PRI&E is such an important tool, emphasises Bas. “It is not meant to discourage you, but as the starting point for a conversation.” When people think about safety, they often see it as an impediment to artistic freedom. That’s a misconception in his opinion. “By thinking about how to work safely things actually become possible.”

He sees that students sometimes think: that's probably not allowed, so we'll just do it in a sneaky way. Like that time when dancers aged 15 and 16 enthusiastically recorded their own video clip. "They had rigged up a dangerous contraption with ropes attached to the ceiling. The videographer was suspended above the dancers in a harness that someone had lying around." Fortunately, it all turned out well. “I happened to be walking through the building and opened that door. In the end, they made a great video clip – but safely."

Back broken in three places
Students often don’t see the risks. And 99 times out of 100, things go well, of course. “However, that one time when things go wrong can have dramatic consequences”, says Bas out of experience. Human error is often the biggest risk. “Something may be very safe on paper and from a technical perspective. But the problem arises when the people carrying it out are not properly informed or do not comply with safety measures.”

For example, that time a student hung from a rope that was only attached to an elastic band. That wasn’t what we had agreed. The result: a 6-metre fall, back broken in three places, a broken pelvis and skull. “It was really intense”, Bas recalls. “Fortunately, everything turned out well for the student in the end, following a long period of rehabilitation.”

Who’s operating the wet and dry vacuum?
A lot is possible – but only with the right safety measures. Bas and his team will go through them with you step by step. In the case of the large pond: “You need thick, waterproof pond liner. There are lots of thing you need to consider, such as: How will you get the water in and out every day?  How do you do that with the wet and dry vacuum? That takes at least 45 minutes before after each show. Which member of your crew will do that?

He sees that these kinds of ideas are often rejected ultimately, because the measures take too much time or cost too much money. Is there sufficient budget for a pond liner, for example. Or would you rather spend that money on something else? “Because that’s also an example of creative thinking: Is my artistic idea feasible?”

What’s best for the cows?
From safety for people and property to safety for animals. Bas is unwavering about this. “We no longer consider it acceptable to have animals in the building. In the past, we have had chickens, rabbits, sheep, cats, dogs and even cows here. But you’re always placing them in a situation that will cause them stress.” Animals are permitted in exceptional cases for on-site performances. One example of this was a performance in a polder in North Holland. The actors were walking among the cows there. “However, the students had to consult with the farmer extensively beforehand: How can we keep the cows calm? What’s possible, what’s allowed and how do we do what’s best for the cows?”

Smoking is a must
Another hot topic is smoking. That’s prohibited indoors by law. Bas: “I always ask first: What is the purpose of that smoking? For example, does the play take place in a nightclub in the 1950s or does it feature characters who are always smoking? If so, then smoking is a must. His solution? “Fake cigarettes with fake lights – safe and easy!” And if students don’t think that’s real enough? “Special herbal cigarettes – they produce less smoke and are actually permitted. But watch out with your lighter.”

Get the hell out of here!
The biggest challenge remains: how do you develop risk awareness among students? How do you ensure that they don't secretly think: Get the hell out of here with your safety measures? “We start giving lessons about that in the first year already. And the PRI&E is a good tool for that. However, the conversation remains the most important factor.”

Finally, what was the outcome of the conversation about that 4 by 4 metre pond in the theatre? "The pond is going ahead! But with a slight change.” It will not be half a metre, but 1 or 2 centimetres, deep because reflection is also possible with much less water, as Bas well knows. “So, you see: we always look at what's possible!’

What is a PRI&E and how do you fill it in? All your questions answered (in Dutch only)