“You smile at me. It’s your way of telling me that I’m yours, and that you would keep me with you for the rest of your life. No matter what I would do. We are close and can talk about everything. Even when I’m unfair, you still forgive me. I would sit there, right there, on your lap, and I would look into your eyes. Deeply concentrated. Heavy breathing.”

Two young men drift through life in a feverish dream, creating stories that aid them in their upbringing as a method to understand the experiences they encounter in life. By portraying roles of dominance, care, and passion, they learn the social codes of existence. They learn about love.

By playing with the space between fiction and reality, ‘As if We Truly Met’ actively displays tools of manipulation by drawing links between the fictional characters, between the director and performers, and between the performers and audience. In a spectacular moment of collision, these worlds merge together, compelling the audience to take an active position in how they relate to the presented narrative.

‘As if We Truly Met’ questions what shapes our understanding of ourselves and each other. What kind of narratives have we internalised to become who we are, and to what extent are we able to change this imposed reality?

Created, written, directed, scenography, light design and performed by: Nikolaj Fondt Salzwedell
Performed and co-created by: Eland Peeters
Sound design by: Dario Felli
With drums from: Robbert van Hulzen
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Originally workshopped with, and thereby also co-created by: Jakob Vrancken & Im Byeongsu 임병수
Technician and performer of some showings include: Bram Kemme and Shane van Roye
Advised by: Fleur van den Berg

Photos by: Gergely Ofner