Professional Group
We want to let the audience experience Shakespeare as it was meant to be; vibrant, current, alive! With loads of entertainment at our fingertips, it’s hard to live in the moment. Distractions are a constant occurrence. But during our show, you can truly experience the here and now. We train our actors to engage and create the story with the audience, instead of just making them spectators. Inspired by the work of Tim Carroll who has the ability to take you on an exciting journey.
In this group, we work on an intensive and professional level. For that reason, this group is meant for professionals only. Experience with the works of Shakespeare is not required, but a desire to work intensively on the text and explore the underlying themes and characteristics hidden in his plays is a must.
We are very much looking forward to meeting you at one of our shows and hopefully, together we can create something special.
Meet The Group
Helmer van der Sar
Helmer is a multi-talented actor and director. He graduated the Amsterdam Theater school, he plays Kalk in the popular children’s’ play ‘Wijland’, among other plays, he was part of ‘All you need is Kerst’, ‘Private Chat’ and ‘All hands together’.
He is also a long time cast member of the generation theater and has immersed audiences in his many roles in ‘Ravelijn’.
He is a trainings-actor for police and defense and has been a successful performer at many festivals throughout the world with his energetic and spirited nature.
Lucia Torchia
The Argentian born talent Lucia Torchia moved to Holland in 2012. She graduated from the National University of Arts (drama department) in 2011 and also studied at The ‘Instituto Vocacional de Arte’ in Buenos Aires. She has played a variety of roles in productions in Argentina.
In the Netherlands, Lucia has focused on several English projects as an actress, director, and teacher. She was part of ‘Mutante Kunst’ where all her talents were enjoyed to the fullest. She has been a part of Park Avenue Theater since 2017 immersing herself in Shakespeare's plays.
Gerben Tuin
Gerben Tuin is an actor, director and writer. He played commissioner Jan Kramer in the German TV series Heldt among others. In theatre he played in Richard III, Romeo&Juliet and A Midsummernight’s Dream (The Dutch Factory), the 2015 Sonnet Walks (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Ingenious Mind and Antigone (iTIE), Borderlans and Hertz (Orange Tea Theatre), Huis Clos and Vincent in Brixton (TheArte of Theatre) among others. He adapted and directed Enrico IV and Cabaret (DSTG), and wrote and directed Droomjagers (ASTV), Elena (ASTV) and Political Playground (Orange Tea Theatre).
Sandy Topzand
Sandy Topzand was born in Zimbabwe, grew up in South Africa, and now lives in Utrecht. She discovered acting quite late in life but hit the ground running. She played Ariel in The Tempest, Vanda in Venus in Fur, Queen Elizabeth I/Kennedy in The State of Mary and Becca in Rabbit Hole, among other roles. About working on Much Ado about Othello: "I love the way that this work brings attention to specific elements of well-known plays in ways that spark discussion and thought. Making the work bilingual highlights how the text has been so intricately and deliberately put together."
Miguel Borges
Miguel first began performing in English-language plays during an internship in the United Kingdom in 2016 and has continued to do so ever since. Though moving to the Netherlands made it difficult to do so at first, after finding Park Avenue Theater he managed to get back into it - and finally had a chance at trying his hand at Shakespeare!
About working on Much Ado About Othello: “ I love the opportunity to engage with text of this quality at depth and with a lot of time, it’s been a true pleasure.”
Liesbeth Rood
For the past twenty years, Liesbeth has successfully been working as an actress and a writer. She is a long time cast member of ‘Theatre a la carte’ and has played Ayn Rand in The ingenious mind.
Together with our director she has been studying Shakespeare with The Dutch Factory and has played Titania, Nurse, Duchess of York among many other roles.
Liesbeth is also the co-creator of Shakespearience, The patchwork Odyssey and TG LAVA productions.
If someone can do it, Liesbeth can!