Het Werkteater 1970-1985

In this special broadcast, we look back on Robert Jensen's groundbreaking television career through memorable clips from his iconic RTL5 talk show JENSEN.

"Conditions" - The improvisation-based performance was inspired by psychiatrists such as RD Laing (Family and Madness) and J. Foudraine (Who is of wood). The Werkteater played this performance 'in the den of the lion': in psychiatric institutions for patients and carers. This led to very intensive and adventurous performances in which 'a lot' always happened. Afterwards the discussions sometimes ran high, but even during the performance the audience sometimes mixed themselves in the scenes.

Documentairy about the progressive theatre group 'Het Werkteater' at their home base on Kattengat 10 in Amsterdam.

The story of Operation Market Garden—a failed attempt by the allies in the latter stages of WWII to end the war quickly by securing three bridges in Holland allowing access over the Rhine into Germany. A combination of poor allied intelligence and the presence of two crack German panzer divisions meant that the final part of this operation (the bridge in Arnhem over the Rhine) was doomed to failure.

In the year of 754 AD, during a time of epic battles and bloodshed, the legend of the pagan warrior king, Rebad, is born, but so is a new weapon against his people: Christianity. Redbad must ultimately unite a Viking army powerful enough to defeat the seemingly invincible Franks.

When Eva opens her eyes a young girl finds herself chained terrified for being abused. Her fears become reality in a way no one could ever imagine.

The lives of Erik Lanshof and five of his closest friends take different paths when the German army invades the Netherlands in 1940: fight and resistance, fear and resignation, collaboration and high treason.

One day Karen, Kristel and Kathleen receive an invitation from a king and queen from a distant fairytale kingdom. They ask if they want to sing on their daughter's birthday. But the princess behaves like a spoiled brat, because an evil wizard placed a curse on her, freezing her heart in the process. In an exciting race against time, K3 try to solve the mystery surrounding the little princess. But this turns out not to be as easy as they thought. Because even though they encounter all kinds of well-known fairytale characters, they do not receive any help. Will the brave singers manage to lift the curse?

In the late 19th-century, the Tippel family moves to rural Stavoren in search of greener pastures. However, their dreams are quickly shattered, as teenage Katie is terrorized by a male-dominated society who only see her as an object. Her situation worsens when, following her father's sacking and her elder sister's descent into alcoholism, her mother decides that, rather than starving, Katie becomes a prostitute.

In the winter of 1891 a stranger arrives in a small coastal town on the Isle of Man. His presence soon disturbs the lives of the local inhabitants, especially the beautiful daughter of the parson.

Edgar works as a waiter in 'Het Westen', a restaurant. He is married and has a lover. His neighbors terrorize him with loud music and garbage. One day after he is mistreated by some customers he is sick of it all and goes to talk to his creator, the scenario writer.

A peaceful family-life is suddenly disturbed when the children enter puberty. The children take over the house and disrupt the lives of their parents.

A 40-year-old architect begins to doubt his role as a father in a world sliding into decadence. When he meets a young Polish girl he runs off with her to Rhodes. His psycho-moralistic angst is presented in a series of flashbacks when the hijack of his airplane forces him to take stock of his life.

Erik is trying to avoid the Nazi occupants and stay out of the hands of the Germans. Instead he is trying to be in Elly's arms.

A 17 year old girl runs away form home and finds shelter with a 50 year old man with a psychiatric past.

Mid-19th-century, Baltic Sea port city of Lubeck, Germany. Follows the fourth generation of the Buddenbrook mercantile family as Tony and Thomas reach the age of marriage. Fatefully impeded every step of the way, the Buddenbrooks struggle as economic hardship and personal defeats weigh down family relations.

Television adaptation of Frank Groothofs theatre program 'Idomeneo'. In this youth theatre production (a playful adaptation of Mozart's opera), Groothof plays all the roles.

A Dutch couple is confronted with the husband's rapid onset of senility during a snowy winter in North Eastern Canada.

A portrait of a woman and 26 witnesses who appear to be accusing her of something but we'll never know what. We'll never even know who she is and who the witnesses are. A complex experiment about space, voice and speech.

Erik is a Dutch ten year-old schoolboy who is studying insects at school, and gets shown and explained a bit about them by his kind and knowledgeable nature-loving grandfather, whose country estate is a good place to do so and turns out to have a book on insects, which allows Erik to pass for one night, rather like Alice in Wonderland, as a miniature man among thus giant-looking, talking insects, who discuss their and other species and their lives with him, mainly winged ones, such as bee, fly and wasp.

Hes, an uptight and disaffected social worker reaching retirement, discovers a young woman, Anna, in the closet of an acquaintance who has committed suicide. Realizing that she has been kept in the apartment all her life, he moves in and helps her comes to terms with the complexities of the real world.

When a divorced museum director takes a young girl as a lover things quickly become more complicated when her ex-husband also engages in a relationship with the girl.

A fairytale about a young girl who learns to play chess and at the same time finds her father.

Alex, a 28 year-old photographer, is no longer able to photograph people, for some mysterious reason. Every time he focuses his camera on someone, the same woman appears in his viewfinder - an image he cannot bear. When his brother Aram, whom he has not seen or spoke to for years, unexpectedly phones him and asks him to come to their parental home because their mother is severely ill and may not have long to live, he panics. The thought of a confrontation with the area where he grew up and the renewed encounter with his family makes him feel nervous. Nevertheless, that evening he leaves for AmnesiA: the estate of his parents, the spot where he spent his youth.

Sherlock Jones is a handyman, a nice man who dreams of doing great things. Together with his dog Watson, he becomes involved in the case of the Karthoum diamond. This legendary stone arrives in the Netherlands to be cut and polished. The mafia attempts to steal the diamond during its transport from Schiphol Airport. They ensure that all security measures are checked by the 'renowned' private detective, because they know he will have no idea what is going on. The robbery is a great success. It's a good thing Watson is there too...

An idealistic Dutch colonial officer posted to Indonesia in the 19th century is cohvinced that he can make the kinds of changes that will actually help the local people he is in charge of, but circumstances soon make him realize just how out of touch he really is, and it doesn't take long for things to go from bad to worse.

In Raging of the whole world are the turbulent early years of Alexander Goudveyl central. The story of Alexander's childhood is also the history of an era, the fifties and sixties, and a never solved murder case. Murder goes back to an authentic incident: in 1956, right before Christmas, a policeman was shot in broad daylight in Maassluis during a large-scale evangelistic campaign. The film also plays a failed escape attempt with a herring trawler involved in the turbulent days of May 1940.

The actual life and the fiction created by a successful pulp author begin to blend together.

The successful photographer Diane is in Rome for a photo assignment, but seems mostly to be looking for Giovanni, an old acquaintance and probably a lover. Against the backdrop of the political situation, which is strained due to the attacks by the Red Brigades, Diane and Giovanni hopelessly pass each other by.

A racist truckdriver gets a new muslim colleague after his previous co-driver was beat up by two Moroccan men.

A husband, half of an entertainment duo, the Nellicos, tells his wife, who is the other half of the duo, that he has another woman. But they cannot discuss this as he tells her only just before they are due to perform in front of a large audience. (BFI)

Frank Groothof tells and sings the story of Ulysses' homecoming. He is accompanied musically by the saxphone ensemble Sax et Plus. The Dutch peninsula of Schiermonnikoog forms the backdrop for the story, in which Groothof himself plays almost all carachters.

A veterinarian lives together with his sister and her son in a small village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. He has to cope with gossip and distrust from the villagers.

Happiness and sadness, joy and sorrow at the campsite. Secret letters, hysteria, bullying, hippie romanticism, betrayal and fading love.