Till Death…

“There you are, the two of you on the sofa, a metre and a half apart – even before that ‘metre and a half’ became a familiar concept. I wanted to jump on him so he’d start screaming: ‘Help, call Amnesty, I’m being squashed.’ Followed by: ‘Before you know it, Greenpeace will be at the door too… save the whale.’ At that moment, I wanted to ask him: ‘What are you feeling, what are you thinking?’ But I didn’t dare. Instead, I said: ‘Pat, we’ll get through this. Don’t worry. It’ll be alright.’ Clichés”

February 2019. Arjen’s husband is diagnosed with cancer, and not long after, it turns out to have spread. After initially assuming it was curable, that hope fades after six months. He passes away on 18 March 2021.

What is it like to live with someone you have to say goodbye to? How do you cope with the fact that everything you thought was certain is suddenly uncertain? How do you carry on living afterwards?

Drawing on his own experience of this period of saying goodbye, mourning, fleeing and picking oneself up to carry on, Arjen Barel shares his personal story. With complete honesty and vulnerability.

“An intimate monologue in which loving memories and confrontational honesty alternate in a delicate balance.” – De Theaterkrant

Told by Arjen Barel, directed by Marjolein Frijling