When did you leave?

When did you leave? is a gripping piece of musical theatre that pulls you into a suffocating family dinner with no way out. Through sharp dialogue, oppressive silences and a soundtrack that makes the tension palpable, the performance exposes painful fault lines — within a family, and within society. If we no longer understand each other, how can we still find one another?

What begins as a seemingly harmonious gathering soon turns into a suffocating confrontation. The absence left by the grandmother’s death is palpable — not just in the empty chair at the table, but in the way each family member struggles to reclaim their role. The family dynamic is off-balance, and everyone fights for their own version of the truth. Words become weapons, the table a battlefield. But instead of truly listening to one another, they retreat into their online echo chambers — where beliefs are amplified and anger fed. The gap between their digital selves and their real identities widens, fuelling ever greater misunderstanding.

If you prefer to follow the performance in English, contact Via Berlin before 30 May at Juliska@viaberlin.nl.

Accessibility info

A 300-meter walk along a forest path is part of the performance. The audience sits on tree trunks.