The Educational Team

Jake
Head coach
Jake is a teacher at Boom Academy and head coach at InterActing. In 2010, he ended up as a Belgian in Amsterdam and built a career on stage. He has gained experience as a creator and performing artist within the dance, musical, club, music and theater worlds. In 2019, he dived into improv and immediately joined Boom Chicago and InterActing. He enjoys working with the students to help them grow and show their full potential.
Dutch-speaking theater assistants

Djamali Jones
Visual Effects Artist
Djamali is one of the theater assistants at Interacting. He has an eye for the creative in both his work as a Visual Effects Artist, and on stage during improv. In 2019, he started the improv course Intro to Improv at Boom Chicago and then completed the full curriculum. This led to him becoming part of the house team Pointing at Fingers and getting involved with InterActing, where he guides the students with great joy in their development in comedy.

Sinead Scanlan
Assistant
Sinéad is a graduate student at the University of Amsterdam who has been assisting with Inter-Acting since 2022. She started studying improv at Boom Chicago in 2019, soon completing the entire curriculum, and has since performed as part of several student house teams. Having struggled with anxiety and stage fright since childhood, Sinéad has found improv to be a huge help, and loves seeing Inter-Acting students learning the same confidence-boosting skills.

Zoé de Bruijn
Child psychologist
Zoé is a child psychologist and has worked as a counselor for children and young people with autism. She was responsible for devising for creative projects for children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (autistic features) and has given lectures on this topic at universities and colleges. According to Zoé, theater is the way to educate young people with autism playfully, to help them develop social-emotional skills and increase their self-confidence.

Amy Lawrenson
Assistant
Amy is a teaching assistant and teacher at InterActing. She has been improvising for three years, having trained at Boom Chicago and EasyLaughs – she loves playing big characters and having tons of fun on stage. She has performed with the main cast and is a member of Boom Chicago Academy’s Thuis Party team. When she isn’t performing, Amy is a wellbeing journalist and copywriter working for brands including Rituals, Kerastase and Under Armour.

Zep de Bruyn
Assistant and Translator
Zep is an assistant and translator for InterActing. He works in the book world and as an independent creative, as illustrator, writer and video maker. He found improv comedy in 2020 and has been performing as an English-speaking stand-up comedian since 2022. He is permanently impressed by the students at InterActing and their growth, both on and off the stage.
Adviesraad

Pim Donkersloot
Founder ChildCenter
Pim Donkersloot started ChildCenter in 2001, an organization that offers treatment and guidance to children from the autistic spectrum on a non-profit basis. Pim is a pedagogue (UvA) and specialized in autism and related disorders. He is a father of 3 children, 2 of whom are from the autistic spectrum, is also the author of two books, including ‘Autism, a problem for the whole family’.
In addition to numerous articles in national and foreign media, he and three colleagues have also made a free translation of the famous book ‘The Child with Special Needs’ by Prof. Dr. Stanley Greenspan under the title: ‘If your child needs special attention ‘. In Washington DC, he has been trained for years by child psychiatrist Greenspan, who gained great fame in the world with his floor time approach for children with communicative and interactive challenges. He is also a supervisor at RINO Noord-Holland (in-service training and training in mental health care).

Kevin Walton
Performer & Teacher
Kevin Walton has been working as a performer and teacher for over 27 years with experience at leading British companies such as The National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Institute of Contemporary Arts. He has a lot of experience in teaching children who face a challenge in any way through his work for UNICEF and Save the Children, where theater techniques offer a great outcome. Since 2002 he has been working with children with autism and other communicative disabilities, which resulted in 2011 in the Ark Foundation, which he founded together with Paulla Keen to offer a place in Amsterdam to children who cannot develop in regular places.

Lizz Kemery
Actress & Teacher
Lizz Kemery is an actress and was the founder of the current InterActing curriculum. She studied improv comedy with The Groundlings, The Upright Citizens Brigade and The Free Association. Originally from Philadelphia, she works as a performer in New York.

Dr. Jill Adler
Dr. Jill Adler is first and foremost a mother of a daughter with autism, and has contributed to a number of articles that have been published in various American special-interest books (including Voices of the Spectrum). She is the founder and director of the East-West Parliamentary Practice Project (EWPPP). Jill Adler received her PhD in law from the prestigious Georgetown University in Washington DC and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Rutgers University. She also teaches at the University of Amsterdam and Webster University in Leiden.
For almost a quarter of a century she has alternately served as chair and vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Dutch-American Fulbright Center. As the driving force behind ChildCenter (which includes Inter-Acting), Dr. Adler knows better than anyone how to represent the interests of this non-profit foundation.
Let's play!
InterAction is a nonprofit theater school and without the help of our donors, we are nothing.
Curious for more?
InterActing is a safe place where we play and have fun together on and off stage. Check out our videos and we hope you want to join our program!