Fri, Oct 12, 2012
"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story," said Orson Welles. Meet Vineke and Peter, a few months before the dinner. Vineke is Peter's second wife -- he left his first one because of Vineke, and deep inside she fears he will do it again. Can one love from a position of fear?
Fri, Nov 16, 2012
"I don't want to be sad. I don't want to cry. I don't want to feel like my life is over." - Alis. Sometimes a decision is made before it is made. Sometimes we know, but it takes time - and a shock - to make us listen to what we know. A month before The Dinner. The inevitable is written in every scene. Life is scripted, then improvised. 'The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens.'
Fri, Aug 24, 2012
'We keep saying that it's about Sam,' says Tomas - but it is not. A decision to separate, especially when kids are involved, is just the beginning. And what lies ahead is perhaps one of the biggest challenges life has to offer. It is Confessions time again, and we are focusing on Tomas and Alis after The Dinner. What do they want? And what do they think the other wants? Are they even on the same planet?
Fri, Dec 28, 2012
'You'd think that when love ends, that it could just end, and it wouldn't have to be so bitter and complicated.' Alis asks for Peter's help, Peter offers Tomas his help, Tomas wants everybody to get out of his life. A couple has common friends. One day they separate. What happens to their friends? Will they take sides, will they get involved, will they even stay in the picture? It's complicated. And sometimes bitter.
Fri, Jan 4, 2013
Imagine you are in love. She is married, you are married. Both unhappily, which is why this is happening. Then one of you decides to leave the marriage. And it is not you. Alis tells Marc that she is getting a divorce. Watch what happens. And if that is not too much to imagine: you are in a car. Meeting the love of your life. Or that is what you thought. Two hours ago.
Mon, Sep 3, 2012
Are we afraid of happiness? 'With that kind of happiness comes great risk,' says Alis, and Marc, in a moment of perfect clarity, asserts that 'ultimately I think I'll be unhappy by my own choice'. Watch Marc's and Alis' confessions after Alis has told him that she is separating from Tomas. What do they, what do we fear? Is it the unknown? Is it loneliness? Or is it, ultimately, our very own happiness?
Fri, Jan 18, 2013
'Let's try to see what's best for your child,' says the mediator, but Alis and Tomas disagree on what's best for Sam. How could they not? They have stopped calling each other sweetheart, and now they disagree on almost everything. How do parents end up in court, fighting a child custody battle? Watch it happening to Tomas and Alis, as hurt, anger and frustration are taking the lead.
Fri, Jan 25, 2013
Guilt, pride, competition, roles, habits, preconceptions... the list of obstacles to happiness is endless - is happiness even possible? In an unusual chapter, which combines a scene, the characters' confessions and a 'dialogue' after the characters have witnessed each other's confessions, Felice and Ike deal with sharing life together.
Fri, Feb 1, 2013
What happens when 'our home' becomes 'my home,' when 'our child' becomes 'my child,' when 'we' goes back to being 'you OR I'? Rarely the decision is mutual, and the one who did not make it, feels angry. 'You broke up our family, now live with the consequences,' argues Tomas. 'You can't have everything!'
Fri, Mar 1, 2013
'I didn't lie, you know,' says Tomas after the interview by the court psychologist - and smiles. Does he believe the story he is telling? The story of Alis being an absent mother? Later: 'I still to this day can't even describe the betrayal.' Is that where his strong opinions come from? A character's short confession after a key moment.
Fri, Mar 8, 2013
'Then you have the money thing, and the lawyers start coming in and out...' In a set-up you would not experience as such in the real world, but which is part of the way we are working here, Tomas' and Alis' friends and family witness the couple's interviews by the court psychologist - and they are terrified. They feel like they have to choose sides, they fear that it's contagious. and it's making them re-think their own relationships. 'Maybe there is something that's not working with us,' says Vineke. Is there? To be continued.
Fri, Mar 15, 2013
The seeds of the future lie buried in the past. Flashback: 'Tomorrow will look like today,' said Tomas in the very first scene, which initiated our long-running storytelling experience, exactly a year ago. Alis has just received scary news from a blood test, and she is convinced that this is the end. The crisis puts their relationship to the test, and Tomas persuades her to go with him to therapy.
Sat, Apr 13, 2013
'I'm glad that me being embarrassing doesn't scare you away. I'm pretty embarrassing all the time. I'll probably embarrass you. Is that alright?' - 'I probably won't know how to handle it. Is that ok?' Maria meets Cybil, and her life changes forever. But what about Cybil's life? Who is Cybil, anyway?