Hoeveel kunnen we aan | Djûke Stammeshaus

Djûke Stammeshaus takes you on a musical, humorous and moving solo performance about her years in Brussels politics. How Much Can We Handle is a personal quest for ideals, limits and the impact of big systems on people.

Driven by ideals, Djûke began her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Union in 2017. First she worked on the migration file, later representing the Netherlands on Ukraine, Russia and Eastern Europe. She ended up in the heart of Brussels bureaucracy and experienced how politics, personal values and reality sometimes fray. How do you deal with a world where people become a file number and memos seem more important than the person behind them?

Armed with a diary, a sharp eye and her ‘musical button’ as an antidote to bureaucracy, Djûke provides a unique insight into the political black box of Europe. With a combination of personal anecdotes, music and humour, she outlines her experiences from Brussels to Camp Moria. How do you stay true to your own moral compass? And how do you navigate between compassion and policy?

This performance offers a sharp and topical view of migration and politics and takes you on a search for meaning in a world full of paradoxes. How Much Can We Give shows that politics has no clear answer and that behind every policy choice there is a person with a story.

Djûke has a special background that has shaped her view of migration: Amsterdam, Frisian, Jewish, German, Chinese and Indonesian. She graduated cum laude in Psychology and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam and obtained a master's degree in Conflict and Human Rights from Utrecht University. After years as a diplomat, she changed course and chose her true passion: musical theatre. Since then, she has played in theatres throughout the Netherlands, including two sold-out Bellevue performances, and will go on a national tour in 2025.

Credits: Djûke Stammeshaus (text, music and acting), David Meijer (direction, coaching and text advice)

A performance that gets you thinking!