ABSTRACT
This chapter begins in 1977, the same year I left Holland for what unexpectedly became a twelve-year odyssey. A major portion of the story of Stut Theatre in my hometown, Utrecht, and indeed of Dutch theatre in general, therefore, by-passed me completely. In 1981, as a PhD student in the USA, I began my political theatre research, which after my graduation took me to the Asia-Pacific region. At one point, I had made up my mind to permanently settle outside Europe. But in February 1988, when I was almost broke in Manila and on the last leg of a long journey during which I had collected material for The Playful Revolution, I received an alarming call from my family and a job offer from Utrecht University. So, on 5 May 1988, the annual date the Dutch celebrate the end of World War II, I returned home.
