In ‘Return of the Wolf ’, we reflect on the wolf ’s comeback after 150 years of absence, symbolizing nature’s resilience against human-imposed boundaries. This return asks for a transformation of the Dutch landscape, urging us to remove artificial barriers and reconsider our coexistence with nature.

We responded on this development with a cross-media experience, ‘The Return of the Wolf’, blending the wolf’s story with historical and contemporary media to envision harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. This project invites viewers on a journey to a world where artificial barriers fall away, and wolves roam freely.

GW998F is a female wolf from a pack near Babben (Brandenburg, Germany), and traveled over 600 km to settle here in the Netherlands. As part of our artistic research, we traveled along the path she took after entering the Netherlands. Along that journey, we interviewed her new neighbors, visited sites where she attacked cattle, talked to experts and documented her new habitat.

We translated our research into a contemporary fairy tale. Through the various costumes and props we enabled ourselves to embody the subject and create a transformative journey. In this immersive space, the project questions the human as a central subject and discusses the importance of non-human entities.

In medieval times, traveling theatrical plays were used to highlight societal challenges. The wolf, historically entwined with diabolical symbolism during the Middle Ages, was often associated with the devil and calamities like the plague. Therefore, we adopted a style for this work reminiscent of that era. Our traveling installation uses a traditional method to highlight a contemporary issue.

Our stage, constructed and styled to resemble a tent from medieval times, adopts a Brechtian method of engagement, where the narrative is presented on a central stage, flanked by four additional screens. These screens project a “fantasy audience” in costume, who interact with the main story, blurring the lines between actors and real-life viewers. Viewers physically situate themselves amidst the fantasy audience’s screens, becoming an integral component of the installation and the narrative. This immersive setup narrates from a future perspective, with the wolf delineating its past and present, offering a new vision for the future.