Theatre group counts human cost of Ford Genk closure
On location in Genk, theatre group nieuwstedelijk examines the effect of losing a workplace that was an intrinsic part of the city’s identity
Hard lesson in saying goodbye
He’s standing, running and even driving around an immense but empty car park at what used to be a thriving car factory. Henri, the character he plays, has just been made redundant, and, throughout his monologue, it’s clear that it was more than just a job.
For half a century, Ford Genk was the motor of the local economy in this corner of Limburg, employing up to 14,000 people in its heyday. After heavy restructuring in 2003, the announcement in 2012 that it would close came as a shock, as job security had been promised until 2020.
Through in-depth interviews with former employees, nieuwstedelijk investigates what it means when your job becomes your identity. In Schroot they show people dealing with losing both.
“Looking from one perspective, it’s a beautiful thing how workers can identify with their jobs,” says director Simon De Vos. “I do the same. But Ford Genk was a prime example of the cradle-to-the-grave principle. The factory really used to take care of its employees, offering them long-term prospects with many opportunities for leisure activities and colleagues who became friends for life.
“On the downside, it can be very tragic when this job is taken away, quite apart from the fact that all your friends and maybe even your partner or children are losing their job at the very same time. In the play, we see how hard it is for Henri, whose wife also works at Ford, to say goodbye.”
Although Mechelen-based De Win has driven a few Fords, he has no personal bond with the factory. But during the process, he says, “I came to fully realise the impact the closure has had on this whole region, while the rest of Flanders has almost forgotten what happened here.”
With Schroot, nieuwstedelijk wants to prevent human heritage being forgotten in the absence of the factory. After Vuur (Fire), this is the second play by this new theatre company, a merger of talent from Braakland/ZheBilding and de Queeste. Launched as a city theatre for the Leuven-Hasselt-Genk axis, its focus on local stories has a far wider social dimension, as Schroot proves.
Schroot (in Dutch), 23-30 September, Ford, Henry Fordlaan 8, Genk (on location)
Photo by Katrijn Van Giel
