PhD defence | Performance
Doctoral Performance Demonstration Laila Neuman
- Date
- Wednesday 3 December 2025
- Time
- Address
- Leidse Volkshuis
Apothekersdijk 33
Leiden - Room
- Grote Zaal
ACPA cordially invites you to the public defence of the doctoral research project entitled ‘De Storm der Hartstogten Woedt’ by Laila Cathleen Neuman. On 3 December Neuman will present her artistic work for the doctoral examination committee and for interested audiences. On 5 December she will publicly defend her dissertation in the Academy Building at Leiden University.
This dissertation centres on historical performance practice and on the theatrical legacy of Johannes Jelgerhuis Rienkszoon (1770–1836). Through practice-based research, Laila Cathleen Neuman brings elements of Jelgerhuis's stagecraft, particularly those revealed in his unpublished works, to the attention of a wider public. Jelgerhuis’s written accounts, casting light on his creation of various roles and the use of imagination, complement the information drawn from his theoretical treatise and his illustrations of actors, bodily attitudes, and costume designs. Building on this exploration, Neuman poses the following questions:
- How can a study of Jelgerhuis’s lesser-known works add to a more complete understanding of his treatise Theoretische Lessen over de Gesticulatie en Mimiek, and how can this in turn contribute to historically informed performance practices?
- How might training based on Jelgerhuis’s works enrich my own artistic practice?
- How this knowledge can be transformed into training materials that guide and inspire other performers today?
In her performance-demonstration on 3 December, the historically inspired acting techniques discussed in the dissertation are presented in different styles and with other performers: in exercises, solo and ensemble scenes, tragedy and comedy, interwoven with music.
Event Schedule
3 December, 17.00 hrs.
Performance-demonstration
Grote Zaal, Leidse Volkshuis
Apothekersdijk 33, Leiden
5 December, 10.00 hrs.
Public defence
Groot Auditorium Academy Building
Rapenburg 73, Leiden
Supervisors
Prof.dr. Marcel Cobussen
Dr. Terry Robinson
Dr. Jed Wentz
