Life Actually

The romcom: the genre that is maligned, but that everyone secretly enjoys. Just like with junk food. We know it's not nutritious, but that guilty pleasure tastes delicious! The romcom promises that love is the answer to everything. That your soulmate can just fall into your lap, with the only condition being a minimal emotional (and sometimes external) transformation. What a promise! What a prospect! What if, in our society, we regard the sweetness of the romantic comedy as having radical potential? As a medicine against polarization? What if we choose to believe in the ubiquity of love and thus soften our cynicism? Could that make the world a better place?

In Life Actually, a man and a woman meet in the foyer after watching a rom-com. In an absurd dialogue about the romcom, they themselves become entangled in the genre.

"In Life, actually, Romy Moons and Thomas Claessens end up in a romance through a conversation about the pros and cons of romantic comedies. The meta form is smart and witty, and leaves room for the genre to simply do its manipulative work. " - Theater newspaper

Credits

Text, concept and game Thomas Claessens and Romy Moons, STEL | Final direction Daniël 't Hoen | Light & set design Scott Robin Jun | Photography campaign image Isabelle van Putten | With thanks to Sanne Vanderbruggen, De Brakke Grond, Sarah Moermenas and Fie Revet | Scene photos Bas de Brouwer

Business and production support Workshop Valhalla