everything
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A great course from illustrator Baukje de Haas, gave me (Esther) space and time to experiment with different media; find new ways to combine text and image; and take my drawing altogether more seriously. Or perhaps I should say, more irreverently! Most recently, I've been mixing collage, illustration and my own texts for the first time. You can see more of the results via the portfolio page.

RIght now having a decent home studio set up is a boon, not just for recording songs with the nine year old in lieu of music lessons but also to send high quality raw audio to clients needing voice-over work. I've been recording for ABNAMRO via We Explain, helping with voice-over scripts and recordings for several VR companies and taping prompts for new AI-based systems. If you need an experienced, native British voice-over for your remote project, click here to have a listen to my voice demos.

With a love of dramaturgy, co-creation and coaching, scriptcoaching for WOW Effect was a great match for Esther. Especially on a project where we could completely geek-out about the effects of exponential technology and yer know, the future of humankind! Futurism, philosophy and being in the rehearsal room with a bunch of lively, intelligent and funny people what's not to like? Looking forward now to getting the completed plays up on their feet and helping the directors, as soon as we can get everyone back together.

​Together with Kamp Vught and The Red Cross, Critical Mass developed and designed an interactive exhibition to teach both young and old about the experience of being a child in wartime. Drawing on stories from around the world, both historical (WW2) and current (e.g. Uganda, Syria) the exhibition gives glimpses into the lives of young people during conflict.

Translating the materials for the exhibition, was not just meaningful and eye-opening but also a real creative challenge: just the kind of translation I most enjoy. Specificity of language was particularly important, as was tone of voice and consideration of the audience.

The exhibition is on at Kamp Vught until 31/03/2021, so there is still plenty of time to go and see it. Catch a glimpse behind the scenes here.

If you want a glimpse at what's in store, check out their website here.

The Angst Fabriek (Fear Factory) was Critical Mass's take on the effect of mass media, and the news in particular, on our experience of fear and expectations of safety. They built the factory, filled it with impactful interactive theatre and activities, and toured it to three major cities in The Netherlands in 2019, playing to some 11,000 visitors in both Dutch and English. We got involved to translate all the texts for the show; from the Factory Director's rants, to the instructions for the machinery. Brilliant!

Love the continuing work we are doing for Hardt. Last summer, Esther was busy again writing for the Hardt magazine and we are looking forward to getting stuck into the third edition, with all of 2019 - 2020's news, this summer. Esther has written articles and features covering HARDT´s plans, their partners´and their progress. And in Spring 2020 was able to help with their new VR experience too. Exciting stuff afoot there,

Bo Boekelman and Hilde Verschuren, two primary school pupils at De Harlekijn school in Cuijk, Noord Brabant are exploring coding at Expedition Robot, one of the extracurricular courses on offer as part of the Techlab scheme at their local library.

It’s still unusual and we’re not quite used to it: watching people with strange contraptions on their heads, flailing their arms about, as if in the dark. But step into the seeming darkness and you´ll be surprised at how immersive it really is, how quickly you forget where you are and imagine yourself somewhere completely different. It remains true: with VR – you have to try it to understand it.

That was a first, gathering with a great bunch of like minded VR enthusiasts at 7pm on a Friday evening and, after crowdsourcing concepts, working through the night to create an original VR script for production over the next 2 days! WeMakeVR were the VR tech partners behind Ashes to Ashes (the cinematic experience from Submarine Channel) and a fine bunch of talented folks they are too! Keep an eye on their website & app for the release of Hollow.