Boys Won’t Be Boys

Rikkert van Huisstede (1993) is the initiator and artistic director of Boys Won’t Be Boys which he founded in 2018. He is a Dutch theatre maker, singer and poet, and studied music theatre at the Conservatory of Haarlem. With a powerful voice with a range of four octaves, he has been defying the masculine norms for years. He has an innovative view on themes such as gender, sexuality and parenthood. 

Julian Bohn (1992), a German jazz pianist and pop music producer currently based in the Netherlands, crafts genre-blending music resonating with authenticity and warmth. From his album “Feels Like Home,” which features 11 musicians from across the globe, to his work with artists like electro-pop singer FRÉ and alternative R&B artist XILLAN, he defies musical boundaries while exploring themes close to his heart, for example the climate crisis, feminism and equality. Beyond his music, Julian co-founded Music Declares Emergency NL, an organisation advocating for climate action in the music industry, and is actively involved in BOYS WON’T BE BOYS, a Dutch theatre production centred on real stories about masculinities and gender equality. Graduating from the Conservatory of Amsterdam in 2023, Julian’s thesis, echoing the theatre production’s title, investigates how evolving masculine identities can foster safer working environments in the music industry. This research led to multiple guest lectures on this topic at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.  

Roderick Kabanga (1993) is an actor born in Oulu. Kabanga’s first professional role was in Savoy Theatre’s critically-acclaimed West Side Story musical in the autumn of 2021. In his role as Chino, Kabanga was able to show his versatile talent in dancing, acting and singing. With West Side Story, Kabanga was attached to Helsinki City Theatre’s musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which received a phenomenal reception during its performance season. Kabanga, who discovered acting professionally with the Ilves theatre in his mid-twenties, ambitiously pursues roles both in front of the camera and on theatre stages. Kabanga made his on-camera debut with his role as the second main character in Dance Brothers (Netflix).  

Julian Owusu is a multifaceted artist whose artistic core lies in community building practices, pedagogy, Hip Hop, dance, spoken word poetry, facilitation, decolonial practices and reimagining. Alongside his work with Hip Hop and his own projects, Julian has also worked as dancer, choreographer and actor at, among others, Zodiak – Centre for New Dance, Jojo – Oulu Dance Centre and the Oulu City Theatre. He has taught at the Theatre Academy of the University of Arts, the Oulu University of Applied science as well as in numerous commercial dance schools.  

In addition to direct artistic work, Julian is the chairperson on the board of The Nordic House of Reykjavík as well as a member of the board of dance and tech association Taikabox ry. Julian Owusu worked as Regional Artist for Youth Culture at the Arts Promotion Centre (Taike) in Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu regions between 2016 and 2021.  

Jani Toivola is a writer, actor and performer based in Helsinki Finland. He served as an MP from 2011 to 2019. He is the first black member of the Finnish Parliament. As a politician he is known for his work on human rights, equality and inclusive education. 

His biggest political success was passing the same-sex marriage act in 2016. He continues to work on a number of diversity and inclusion related projects for both public and private sector clients. He is also a sought-after speaker . He has hosted the Finnish version of American Idol and many other entertainment and comedy shows. He has appeared on stage at the National Theatre, Helsinki City Theatre and Teatteri Jurkka. In addition he has appeared in several films and TV shows. He has published three books for adults in relation to identity (Musta tuleeisona valkoinen, 2016), fatherhood (Kirja tytölleni, 2018) and masculinity (Rakkaudesta 2021). He has also written books for children. He is currently hosting his own podcast and performing his popular one man show About love. 

With a mother from Finland and a father from Kenya, Jani Toivola was born and raised in Helsinki Finland. In 2002 he moved to New York, USA to study acting at the HB Acting Studio. He is a proud father of a 9-year old. 

Daniel Woodward is a cultural and gender studies masters student, who has worked within the field of diversity, equity and inclusion both in Finland and New York, specialising in questions of masculinity and women’s rights. His interest in masculinity stems from his own experience from highly masculine coded worlds, such as sports, and having had a long career within the restaurant industry.  

Jamie MacDonald (1977) is a stand-up comedian with degrees in performance art and theatre. Originally from Canada, he is now a queer transgender nuisance who performs on Finnish and international stages since 2004. In comedy he works with emotionally charged topics and the abject, while in curating he combines genres, highlights “low-brow” culture, and creates spaces for others to perform in. Recently this has included the trans-masculine group dance piece “T4T4U” in Kiasma Museum, as well as the “Queer Art Superstar Ball” event in Kiasma in 2023.

He has co-created several community-driven projects, including “Feminist Comedy Night” and “Feminist Comedy Academy”, the Thalia award-winning drag, burlesque and comedy show “Punch Up! – Resistance and Glitter”, and the monthly queer salon “Attic Underground”. His most recent solo show, “Cuck”, takes on fatherhood, masculinity, and online humiliation, which sounds high-brow but it’s rather a lot of dirty queer jokes. He’s currently doing a PhD on dirty queer jokes.