Vale Willem Wassenaar, Dutch - Kiwi director
There's a lot of sadness in the New Zealand theatre community at the moment, as news goes around of Willem Wassenaar's passing in Holland on the weekend. I met him a few times around town and at the New Zealand International Arts Festival, and photographed him at least once - leading a SchoolsFest workshop with a group of actors from The Walworth Farce in 2010.
He was completely in his element, pushing the students faster and further than they would have thought possible when they woke up that morning, and loving every minute of the workshop - his laugh, his enthusiasm for what they were doing was so infectious everyone in the room felt, well, bigger.
Here are a few photos from that workshop, for his friends & family to enjoy - hopefully this is how we'll all remember him; embedded in the moment, laughing, leading, directing. Rest well, Willem.
