Three Times Left is Right

He is a university professor with a left-wing background; she is a media commentator for the new right. At first glance, they appear to share little. Yet they are a couple – despite their divergent worldviews. What does it mean to live together under such conditions? What conversations do they have between the dining table and the tennis court? How do they raise their children? When does the personal become political? With black humour and a calculated play on trigger warnings, Hetzel’s “docufiction” constructs a family portrait that reflects the fractures within contemporary society. In an intensely physical performance, Josse De Pauw and Kristien De Proost embody a couple inspired by real-life figures. Three Times Left Right destabilises seemingly stable boundaries and reveals how easily our moral compass can shift.

Jury Statement

“Julian Hetzel has devised an unconventional and stunning chamber play inspired by the relationship between a left-wing cultural scholar and a new right thinker from Vienna. How do they manage to live together when their views of the world are diametrically opposed? Kristien de Proost and Josse De Pauw play a couple for whom political conflicts have invaded their personal lives. With microscopic precision Hetzel zooms in on the internal aspects of their relationship, where conversations in the playground unsettle the certainties of an established institution. In a minimalist setting the pair deliver a heated battle over who has the better ideology – exemplifying how society is divided. Why are the left’s thought patterns so swiftly hijacked by the right? With disconcerting humour Hetzel constructs idiosyncratic images for the heated climate of debate and for radicalisation – until even the subtitles take on a life of their own. One watches the performance with sweaty palms and leaves this cleverly conceived and stimulating evening absolutely shattered. A masterpiece of provocation.”
– Vincent Koch for the Theatertreffen-jury

Tothe video statement (in German)