Three Times Left is Right centres on a couple, one far-right, the other far-left. Their relationship acts as a magnifying glass for a society in which people seem to be drifting ever further apart. How do you share a life with someone who thinks in completely opposite ways?
The performance is inspired by a real couple: Caroline Sommerfeld and Helmut Lethen. They are starkly opposed in their politics, yet share a life and a family. That raises questions which sit at the heart of the performance. What happens when politics enters your private life? And what happens when your convictions clash with your actions?
On stage, these questions are explored by Belgian acting duo Kristien De Proost and Josse De Pauw. Through clear visual language and a sharp theatrical form, Studio Julian Hetzel makes large societal themes feel personal and immediate.
Trigger warning: this performance explores the borderlands of polarisation.
Three Times Left is Right is about polarisation, language, and power. The performance shows how political ideas shift and how left and right sometimes adopt each other’s words and strategies. It also asks what happens when violence and extreme positions become increasingly normalised.
Studio Julian Hetzel
Studio Julian Hetzel makes theatre that provokes and unsettles; theatre as a tool for speculating about a disturbing future. Through a precise visual language, it brings complex moral, social, and political dilemmas close to the audience. At the same time, there is room for humour, disruption, and recognition. With this abrasive performance, Hetzel shows what happens when violence becomes ever more normalised in our society. Everything has an end, but a sausage has two. Never again is now.
SHIFT
This performance is part of SHIFT: the label for unpolished performing arts. Expect raw, poetic, personal performances. No glitter, no façades. Shows you simply must see, by young and established makers engaging with current events and the future. You come to SHIFT because you want to know what’s going on: in your head, in the world, in others, in yourself, in the big picture and in the small. For curious thinkers and critical dreamers. SHIFT is an initiative of Explore the North and Stadsschouwburg De Harmonie.
SHIFT season 2026/2027 is made possible in part through financial support from Fonds 21.