By Dongyun Kwon
Through autobiographical performance, Roos Rijnbeek wants to not only share her life story but also let the audience think about the true meaning of inclusion and diversity.
Rijnbeek is a Dutch citizen who moved to Australia in 2022 and currently lives in Lilydale.
She is living with a disability named achondroplasia which is a genetic condition affecting a protein in the body called the fibroblast growth factor receptor.
Achondroplasia leads to shorter bones, abnormally shaped bones and shorter stature; adult height in people with achondroplasia is between 42 and 56 inches.
Although she is 128cm tall, The 25-year-old said she has a big character.
“I’ve always been this way, I’m not used to anything else, I’m still a happy person and I want to make my life as cool as I can,” she said.
“Nothing will stop me and I will always find a solution or different way to do it.
“I can do everything, and I can be anything that I want to be.”
Rijnbeek had to face obstacles and challenges throughout her life because of the disability she is living with.
She needs help from other people or a step to reach something above her height.
She has also got her car adjusted to reach out to the pedals.
Rijnbeek said the big obstacle is the way society perceives people with disabilities.
“All of those things like the adjustments that I have to do in life to go by in society are fine things for me,” she said.
“There is still a lot of discrimination going around.
“I always say ‘I’m fine with my disability but I feel like other people are not fine with it, and they need to constantly remind me of it.’”
The Dutchwoman studied theatre and education at Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands.
Through what she loves, Rijnbeek found her own way to make a more inclusive and diverse society where difference is not something to be tolerated but something to be celebrated.
The 25-year-old created an autobiographical performance to tell audience about her life.
Her show was already three times sold out in the Netherlands and is coming to The Memo, Healesville on 22 and 23 February.
Rijnbeek said there’ll be a Q and A session after the show as she wants to interact with the audience directly.
“Able is an autobiographical solo performance about living life in a society that’s not made for you because you are different because of your disability,” she said.
“I am short-statured but that’s just a little part of me, Roos is so much more than just that. By creating this performance, I’m opening up about that side of my life, about my disability, about my short staturedness.
“I think we need to educate people more on it and we can raise a bit more awareness around it. I hope to not only talk about myself and my own experience that people can learn from but also open up the conversation about ‘how can we make the better world for us all to live in?’, ‘how can we take that shared responsibility to help one another out?’.”
After she moved to Australia in 2022, she noticed how different Australia is compared to the Netherlands.
The 25-year-old said Australians are more welcoming and open.
“In the Netherlands, we’re constantly busy judging one another, and we’re so focused on what other people think of us and what we think of other people,” she said.
“Here in Australia, people are more focused on themselves. If there’s interaction, they want to do it for a good purpose. I felt so much more accepted here.”
Rijnbeek said she could be herself and be free in Australia.
“In the Netherlands, when I was 23 just before I moved here, I was very struggling with, almost surviving day by day, all the reactions that I got from the outside world,” she said.
“I would notice people taking pictures of me eight times a day. I would get pointed at constantly. I would get yelled at on the street.
“As soon as I arrived in Australia, all that I was carrying came off my shoulders.”
For more information regarding Rijnbeek’s show Able, please visit the following website, yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Experience/Events/ABLE
