Liam Nibbelink is a Theatre major from Grand Rapids, Michigan. His love for theatre has grown through many different interests, from simply watching Disney movies and musicals on the TV to joining his church’s choir to being a part of full theatre productions. In high school he had a drama teacher that inspired him to pursue a degree in Theatre Education, which he started as but eventually dropped the education part.
While at Northwestern, Nibbelink has been involved in multiple shows with a variety of different roles. His favorite show was “Life is a Dream” from his sophomore year. He says that it was one of the most innovative and imaginative productions he had ever been a part of. “We got invited to KCACTF so we got to perform in front of hundreds of people, and that was literally the highlight of my life at that point.”
Nibbelink also enjoyed being a part of “Matilda” because he got to play the role of Miss Trunchbull, which he had really wanted but did not expect to actually get. However, he said it was really fun, and he was able to be very bold and learn a lot through it. It was especially exciting because Nibbelink loves musicals. He took Topics in Dramatic Lit as a course by arrangement with Dr. Robert Hubbard and chose to study musicals.
Nibbelink has also been involved in Drama Ministries Ensemble (DME), for three out of his four years. He first joined the fall semester of his freshman year when it was student-directed by an upperclassman. He got asked to play Peter in one of the Bible stories, and it went well enough that when she put on a full-scale production of Bible stories, Nibbelink got cast as Peter. “I had two multi-page monologues and lots of stuff to memorize,” he said. “It was the biggest performance I had done at that point.”
After that, he stayed in DME his sophomore year but stepped out his junior year because of how many other things he had going on. However, after realizing how much he missed it, he joined back in the group this year.
Besides acting, Nibbelink has had many other production roles including stage manager and dramaturg. He really enjoyed stage management, although it was a lot more stressful than he originally thought it was going to be. However, he said “it has given me good skills in growing in terms of confidence and leadership abilities.” He had to learn how to juggle many different tasks while also “keeping his head above water” in order to lead the group well.
Most recently, Nibbelink has been designing a lobby experience for the upcoming production of “Enemy of the People.” He said, “I think I am in over my head a bit. It is going to turn out, but I said I am going to be ambitious, and they really took me at my word.” He also said this show has been one of his favorite rehearsal processes so far, so he is very excited for everyone to see it.
When not in the theatre, Nibbelink enjoys late nights in the green room, trips to see Dordt’s theatre productions, La Jua’s runs, watching a good movie and attending Hospers events. He said, “I have really enjoyed being a part of Hospers and the community there. Hospers is its own thing in and of itself. It is its own sub-genre of campus.”
Concerning future plans, Nibbelink said, “I have no concrete plans in theatre, but my ultimate dream would to be a published playwright as well as, hopefully, maybe a director. And then I love acting so finding ways to keep doing that, too.” He also wants to keep singing to keep his voice up.
Nibbelink has been very involved in the Theatre Department and has learned a lot. He said, “One thing I think students on campus should know is that our theatre department is just as good as our sports teams and that, not to brag, our shows deserve as much recognition as the sports do.” Nibbelink is an advocate for the theatre and hopes to continue doing what he loves beyond NW.
