Yves Caspar: “Too much sex? Nobody wants to see fries being peeled”
Yves Caspar is best known in and around Sint-Truiden for his acting and directing work in the successful Theater De Roxy, which he runs together with Gunter Reniers. But did you also know that almost every scene from the VRT one-soap ‘Thuis’ passes by his critical eye and sharp pen passes? By surprising plot twists to spicy ones dialogues. There is a good chance that they will be written or at least rewritten in Sint-Truiden. Den Truineer sought out the screenwriter. Not at his home, but in the coworking space Walhalla, where Yves can be found every week.
Most residents of Truien know you as a theater maker. How did you end up in that world?
“I am a Dutch teacher by training and also taught the first and second grades of secondary school for six years. Yet I soon felt that teaching was not really for me. I just didn’t have enough patience for it,” Yves begins his story. “My passion lay elsewhere. I have been acting in Velm since I was eighteen and I wrote a play as a final project for my teacher training. I really liked that. I later exchanged my job as a teacher for theater training and started directing.”3
How do you explain the step from the theater to the screenwriting team of Thuis?
“In 2018 I made a play at the Roxy with Ann Pira and Raf Jansen, both Thuis actors. I urged them: if a place ever becomes available on the scriptwriting team of Thuis, you must let me know. And as if it was meant to be, Raf called me a few months later and told me to apply quickly. Actually, it was already too late at that point. Still, head writer Stef Wouters decided – not the one from the news
– to give me another chance. And so by the time I was writing out a screenplay in a computer program that I didn’t know. Enough to be in the last four. I went for an interview and got the job of a dialogist. In other words, the person who writes the dialogue for the actors.”
“If dialogue editor wake I about it that all scenarios correct in form, atmosphere and content”
It is now six years later. Is your role still the same?
“Since October of last year I no longer work as a dialogist, but as a dialogue editor. I collect all the episodes from the dialogists, read them and adjust them so that continuity is preserved. You should know that the dialogists each write an episode separately. So they don’t know exactly what their colleagues are writing. As a dialogue editor, I ensure that all scenarios are correct in form, atmosphere and content and that all dialogues fully suit the characters who have to speak them. I am the last in line in the writing process. I am the last to work on the screenplay before it goes from the writers room to the production crew, the directors and the actors. Another difference from the past is that I now have a say in the storylines.”
Do you often have contact with the actors on set?
“I see them in the studio sometimes. Some actors are in hot water when it comes to the fate of their character. They then try to extract as much information as possible. Quite understandable. A job as a soap actor does come with some uncertainty. Your character can suddenly explode. We don’t decide on this alone, the production house and VRT also have their say. I know most of the actors from the theater. As a writer you are often on an island. But when we all get together, the atmosphere is friendly. Sometimes there are also parties and we watch double episodes or the season finales for the first time on a big screen. Of course you really click with some actors. In my case, for example, this is with Raf Jansen, who plays Dieter in the series. We share the same sense of humor and that’s fun. But all the actors are very accessible and down to earth.”
“Some actors are on hot coals when it comes to the fate of their character”
Do you sometimes get reactions to your writing for Home?
“There are not very many people who know that I write for Thuis. Your name is in the credits, but few people read that. To be honest, I’m a bit put off by that myself. When you get reactions it is usually criticism (laughs). That there is too much sex in the series, for example. “Everyone does it with everyone,” they say. That’s true (laughs). But that’s just the nature of a soap opera. Nobody is interested in how people peel fries. The first episode from thirty years ago also started with adultery. Although the pace was much slower then.”
Do you feel that the soap genre is generally underrated?
“We sometimes receive derogatory reactions. I don’t look at ‘that’, you hear. Totally okay, everyone has their own interests. I really don’t lose sleep over that. But 1 to 1.2 million viewers tune in to Thuis every day. Huge numbers for Flemish fiction. That is not my merit, but that of the entire team. The VRT is happy to present the results of their Sunday evening fiction. Thuis achieves the same viewing figures, sometimes even higher, with a much smaller budget. Even in Netflix times when viewers can ‘bing’ entire series, Thuis remains intact. In my opinion, this success can be explained by its simplicity and reflection of society. Different generations together, so that everyone recognizes themselves in something. High-profile themes such as transsexuality and polyamory also concern people.”
“I think the success of Thuis can be explained by its simplicity and reflection of society”
Where do you get the inspiration to keep it interesting? “Our ideas are often taken from life. For example, stories you hear in your circle of friends can be a source of inspiration. Now I have to watch what I say, or no one will dare to tell me anything anymore (laughs). But personal experiences are also often a good basis. This is how I incorporated fragments from my time as a teacher into the scenario. Some of the sentences I heard then come back verbatim. During our brainstorming sessions we sit together with a group of nine people. There is no limit to what you say. Everything is put on the table and can serve as inspiration.”
Is there a chance that we will ever see the Haspengouw landscape in Thuis?
“That is not so obvious. One of the current settings is a vineyard in the Hageland and that is not always a gift to be honest. The recordings take place on average three to four months before broadcast. So if the story is about grape picking, there is a chance that there are not yet any grapes hanging on the vines at the time of filming. It would be the same with the blossoms in Haspengouw. Then you must be able to film a full year in advance. It’s all quite difficult. With Theater De Roxy we are real ambassadors for our city. Every year we attract thousands of visitors from all over Limburg to Sint-Truiden. Something to be proud of,” concludes Yves Caspar.
