About us
The Cauldron is a performing arts foundation based in Amsterdam, dedicated to creating inclusive, engaging English-language theater.
We bring together a vibrant community of amateurs and semi-professionals to stage a diverse range of productions, from classic plays and musicals to original works.
Through workshops in acting, dance, singing, and technical theater, we support our members in developing their skills while fostering meaningful connections within the community.
At the heart of The Cauldron’s mission are the values of diversity, inclusion, and equality. These principles guide our casting, our open-door approach to talent, and our ongoing commitment to high artistic standards.
The Cauldron is governed by a board of directors that adheres to the Dutch Cultural Governance Code, the Fair Practice Code, and the Code of Diversity and Inclusion.
Stacy, Kat, Andreas, Izzy, Janice and Sheila (Board photos by Cheryl Hart)
AnnouncementStichting the Cauldron is pleased to announce that we are undergoing a restructure!
Some of our wonderful board members are leaving us for bigger and better things, so we would like to take a moment to thank them for all their incredible contributions and hard work, and to welcome our new board members.
We are bidding a very fond farewell to Izzy Sayers, Stacy Filimonova and Sheila Bosco (although Sheila will be staying on for several projects as technical director, so while no longer a board member, she will still be around!). We would like to thank Izzy, Stacy and Sheila for getting the Cauldron to where it is today, and for the incredible work they have been doing behind the scenes for the last year. When we say that we wouldn’t be here without them, we really mean it.
Going forward, we would like to welcome our new board members, Adam Passingham and Punto Bawono, who will be joining Janice Niemeir as our fantastic team behind the scenes of The Cauldron.
Additionally, we would like to welcome our new core team of hard workers who will be taking over all the day to day operations of keeping The Cauldron afloat. We bid a warm welcome to Rosemary Lloyd and Jon Madge, who are joining as Producers, and Alcina Summers, who is joining as our administrative Director. Kat Carson remains as our founder and Artistic Director, and Madison Jolliffe is our newly appointed Artistic Advisor.
We are very excited to announce these changes, and to show you what we have planned for the next year, as we have already been hard at work planning our 2026 season!
Core Team
FOUNDER | ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Specialised in Early Music, Kat’s training in Historical Acting and Classical Singing help her create interdisciplinary performances that bridge the past and present. She has founded two ensembles The Wandering Bard and Nymphes et Monstres, has sung with The Sixteen, performed on some of the largest stages in the UK and Netherlands, and sung on British and Dutch radio. As an educator, Kat has run several outreach projects in the UK with one fundraising for a UK Music charity. She now works with the DGAI Music School and is vocal coach for The Wazzup Singers, who recently performed on We Want More. As a teacher, Kat allows her students to explore multiple styles of singing, and encourages experimenting with styles from Musical Theatre, to Jazz, to Classical. See more about Kat on her website, katcarson.com
Kat Carson (UK)
ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR
Alcina Summers is a multilingual actor, voice actor, and singer, fluent in English and Dutch. She was most recently seen onstage in Murder in the Studio, 9 to 5, Bare: A Pop Opera, and Nun the Wiser. Alcina’s recent voice work includes Scene There Done That, Death Game, and the upcoming short film I Give to Thee. Trained in stage acting, improv, and vocal performance, she brings versatility, musicality, and a storytelling instinct to every project.
Alcina Summers (NL)
PRODUCER
Rosemary Lloyd has been performing in musical theatre for over 20 years. They are a versatile performer, specialising in musical theatre and classical singing. You may have seen them as Rose Fenny in Dogfight, Maggie Winslow in A Chorus Line and Lady Larkin in Once Upon A Mattress. She has received extensive vocal training, including classical voice studies with Monique Simon at the Conservatoire de Luxembourg and coaching with Anna Langner. In addition to performing, Rosemary has worked backstage in makeup, costuming, and stagehand roles.
Rosemary Lloyd (US/LU)
PRODUCER
Jon is a writer and director with a love for new and innovative theatre. Since moving to Amsterdam, they’ve worked on several award winning productions, including the Cauldron’s Addams Family and Downstage Left’s The Arsonists, both praised for their direction, and helped found the Campfire of New Writing night of short plays. Jon’s just finishing work on the first season Keeping the Zoo, a podcast sitcom homage to classic radio comedies, which is available on all good podcast apps now.
Jon Madge (UK)
ARTISTIC ADVISOR
Madison Jolliffe (they/she) is a queer, intersectional feminist theatre director, dramaturg, performer and teacher based in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Their work spans theatre, neo-burlesque and participatory performance, with a particular focus on hope, utopian speculation and collective imagination. Madison directs and creates with the Utrecht-based theatre collective Utopia Syndicate and performs as Lola Nightshade with The Cat Eye Cabaret, where they also direct themed neo-burlesque shows.
They hold an MA in Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy from Utrecht University (cum laude, Holland Scholarship) and a BFA in Performance Creation from Concordia University in Montreal (Great Distinction). Their work has been developed and shown at institutions including Het Huis Utrecht, MaMA Rotterdam, BAK basis voor actuele kunst, ARENA Festival in Erlangen and various festivals in Canada and Europe. As a director, Madison received the BroadwayWorld Netherlands award for Best Direction of a Musical (2023). They regularly teach acting and devising and are committed to creating processes that are generous, collaborative and oriented toward a brighter present.
Madison Jolliffe (CA)
Governing Board
CHAIR
Adam Passingham is originally from the UK and has been living in the Netherlands since 2016. Previously a professional musician, Adam is now a Software engineer at the environmental startup Coolset.
Adam Passingham (UK)
SECRETARY
Originally from the US, Janice has been living in Amsterdam with her family since 2021. In a previous life, she taught theatre to high school kids and occasionally worked backstage.
She works as a product manager, but is excited to have found her way back to theatre through the Cauldron.
Janice Niemeir (US)
TREASURER
Punto is a baroque lutenist who studied with Paul Beier at the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado (Milan, Italy). He completed his bachelor studies on theorbo, lute, and baroque guitar with Mike Fentross and Joachim Held at the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague.
Punto has played in master classes for many renowned musicians, including Hopkinson Smith, Peter Croton, Michael Chance, Emma Kirkby and David Miller. He also received coaching on historical performance practice and chamber music from specialists such as Ryo Terakado, Frank de Bruine, Lucia Swarts, Wilbert Hazelzet, Lorenzo Ghielmi, and Susan Williams. He performs regularly as a soloist, accompanist and basso continuo player, and he is very much appreciated not only for his fantastic musicianship, but also for his endless knowledge.
Punto Bawono (NL)
VOLUNTEERS
MARKETING LEAD
Marie-Océane (MO for short) was born and raised in France and has lived for a total of 7 years in Germany and China before moving to Utrecht in 2020, where she is an event coordinator. In her youth, she used to be involved in a children's choir as well as in an orchestra (playing the French horn) during 10 years. Living abroad, she got to discover the musical world and just fell in love with it. While looking for a like-minded community in the Netherlands, she first found HEA where she took part in the Six musical bootcamp and shortly after this new adventure, she found The Cauldron. She is very excited to be helping The Cauldron and hopes she will make many new friends along the way!
Marie-Océane Vignaud (FR)
FUNDING GURU
Chi has a degree in business administration and has specialised in the fund raising for social programmes in The Netherlands. Programmes which help disadvantaged groups in society to have better access to education and employment opportunities. Chi has only recently become a fan of and performer on the stage. With performances in improv theatre, standup comedy, musical theatre and storytelling.
This new found love for the performance arts has led him to become a funding guru for cultural organisations with their fund raising. Recent funding successes have been the Impro Festival Amsterdam and The Cauldron.
Chi Chan (NL)
PRODUCTION ADVISOR
Ellen is a Canadian production and stage manager living and working in Amsterdam. She obtained a Master’s Degree in Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries from Central St Martin’s (London, England) in 2018, and has since happily applied her imagination to exciting projects internationally. She loves being part of the devising process, and handling the unexpected.
She’s excited to be volunteering as Production Advisor for a the Cauldron, and hopes she can help things run smoothly backstage. Find her next working as Stage Manager on QETC’s La Cage aux Folles, coming this winter to CC Amstel, Amsterdam Netherlands.
Ellen Brooker (CA)
SOCIAL MEDIA OFFICER
Originally from the United States, Macy Hohenleitner is a Utrecht-based freelancer with a background in media and cultural studies. Having performed in regional productions in Boston, MA throughout her youth, Macy is thrilled to have found The Cauldron. During her teenage years, Macy developed a knack for social media, building a small but dedicated following on YouTube. Her academic journey led her to delve deeper, culminating in a thesis on community engagement on TikTok. Now, as The Cauldron’s Social Media Coordinator, Macy combines her theoretical knowledge with hands-on experience, weaving her passion for storytelling into online interaction, fostering connections within The Cauldron community.
Macy Hohenleitner (US)
ASSISTANT EVENT COORDINATOR
Betsy Brossman grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia where her love for 70s folk music and the performing arts was born. Before moving to the Netherlands in 2021, Betsy lived in New York City for four years where she worked as an usher for Jujamcyn Broadway theatre company and sang in an all-female a cappella group.
Having since discovered a different kind of ‘stage’, Betsy is currently a lecturer at the University of Amsterdam in the Media Studies department where she teaches about and researches the sounds of the (American) rural milieu, questioning how music, lyrics, and music videos can play a role in perpetuating stereotypes of non-urban spaces. When she is not teaching or singing with The Cauldron Choir, she finds joy in accompanying herself at home on badly-played guitar or ukulele.
Betsy Brossman (US)
SOCIAL MEDIA OFFICER
Jonelle Marasigan is a medical student from Amsterdam with a passion for (musical) theatre. She slowly rolled into this crazy world, always grateful for the Cauldron providing a warm and fuzzy environment to grow. To help out, she creates content for social media. Her main goal is to encapsulate and share the feeling of the tight-knit family the Cauldron has become for her.
Jonelle Marasigan (NL)
CHOIR COORDINATOR
Lian is a software engineer and public speaker by trade, Lian is no stranger to the stage. After years of working in Silicon Valley startups, she has found her calling: Introducing the beauty and impermanence of performance art to the tech industry. As Chief Karaoke Officer, she is the creator of “Kuberoke” a one-of-a-kind social event, bringing the joy of Karaoke to technology conferences.
She can also be seen performing at various Standup Comedy Open Mics in and around Amsterdam.
Lian Li (DE)
WORKSHOP COORDINATOR
Miao is a catalyst person who is always cheerful and happy. She is originally from China and lives in Amsterdam. She loves singing and dancing since she was little. She started performing with dancing group on stage when she was 6. Though she chose a completely different career as an IT professional, she is always passion about musical and theatre. She likes trying different things and learns what she doesn't know. She is authentic to her inner child - being simple and filled with curiosity.
Miao He 何苗 (CN)
CHOIR COORDINATOR
Jack Engelbrecht would like to be specialized in everything. What? ADHD? …No. He graduated from BEAR (even fancier fine art) with conceptual art exploring the catharsis that occurs when an audience member maps their emotionality onto the outside experiences and identity of fictional characters. Since then he has re-focused on writing his own stories so as to be able to enrapt the audience himself. To help deal with the semi-permanent writers block he’s active in the improv scene in Amsterdam; founding the improv troupe ‘the gang of parrots’ and teaching improv to young autistics at Interacting.
After moving on from coordinating the Parrots improv team, (and in addition to taping most Cauldron shows), he’s now the new coordinator for the Cauldron choir.
Jack Engelbrecht (NL)
FRONT OF HOUSE VOLUNTEER
Originally from Romania, Andreea currently works as a software developer in Amsterdam. Her passion for theatre and opera began back in high school, when she first discovered the magic of performance art — a passion that has only grown stronger over the years. Since then, it’s become one of her favorite ways to spend time — whether watching a show or being part of the atmosphere behind the scenes. Before moving to the Netherlands, Andreea volunteered at both national and independent theatres in Romania. Even though her professional path led her into tech, she has always kept close to the arts, finding inspiration in the creativity, emotion, and sense of community that theatre brings.
Andreea Bumbac (RO)
The Tech Crew
The Tech Crew, led by tech director Sheila Bosco, is a group focused on the amazing and exciting field of technical theater!
Through hands-on experience at shows, we explore everything from planning a production, working with different roles in theater, and operating in various theaters across Amsterdam, to equipment use and the study of sound and lighting operation and design. And, of course, we embrace the joy of making mistakes and learning from them!
With fun and community as our focus, we’re excited to build a crew of technical theater nerds dedicated to the classic art of theater craft!
Our tech crew :
(L-R) Rosalind (Yiping) Tian, Gergana Petkova, Saniya Mehra (with trainer Sheila Bosco) .
ANBI
The Cauldron Performing Arts is an ANBI as of June 17th 2023
VAT number: NL863310205B01
RSIN number: 863310205