Harmen Sipkema gives a robot a voice in the Concertgebouw
The children’s book “De Robot van de Rommelmarkt” (The Robot from the Flea Market) by Tonke Dragt was adapted into a musical play by artist Bram Ellens. The play was performed no fewer than four times at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. I was able to use both my voice acting and my Sonology training to shape the voice of the Robot.
In the time Edu Janssen lives in, you hardly need to be able to do anything yourself, because there are robots for everything. A reading machine reads to you, your teacher is a mechanical ‘central calculator’, and at home there is one for all the household chores and for your homework. When Edu’s house robot breaks down, he buys a replacement at the flea market: a rusty, battered specimen. And that is where a special friendship begins…
