The millennial: born between 1981 and 1996, child of the digital age, longing for autonomy and freedom and looking for their own moral compass in a world full of opinions. For theater makers Hulst & Tarenskeen, this is the recipe for their new performance Millenial I Peace.
Location: Ibiza. A white villa with sea views. Inside, the interior is cold and sleek. Millennial Wesley (Tim Linde) is tinkering with his DJ set on the couch. After ten years of work, his debut album is still not finished. At his side is Gwen (Georgina Verbaan), fellow millennial, romantic partner and manager.
When Wesley comes into contact with Priska (Esperanza Denswil), a committed singer, he takes a different path. Together they make an activist song about the genocide in the fictional Olvenia. To the shock of Gwen, who is quite wary of activism, it goes viral.
‘The millennial’ then turns out to be anything but clear. Take Werner (Bram Suijker), Gwen’s brother. He is in the army, but prefers not to talk about it with his partner Ashley (Nadia Babke). She is a moral knight who not only works in a croissant bakery, but also works for Oxfam Novib in its fight against injustice. Gwen herself says she looks for nuance and wants to continue the conversation, but in the meantime she is afraid to speak out. Wesley’s search for meaning also makes her insecure: does he consider her complicit in the genocide because she remains silent? The actors convincingly portray the characters in a satirical manner. Bram Suijker even plays a number of characters in addition to Werner, including a tense TV presenter and a manager of Wesley.
Enough material for Jan Hulst and Kasper Tarenskeen to measure their own generation. After the successful Showmeister (2023) the theater makers are kicking Millennial I Peace a new series of performances about millennials.
The millenials in a sleek, chilly villa in Ibiza.
Photo Bart Grietens
Genocide
The performance touches on current themes: genocide and the powerlessness that accompanies it, increasing defense expenditure, and especially inner struggles and clashes between contemporaries. How do you relate to all that world suffering?
It is clear that the fictional Olvenia refers to Gaza. Inflatable watermelons are mentioned as a protest symbol, a demonstration at the University of Amsterdam is condemned and a social media campaign with celebrities takes shape, with the text “until here” below their portrait, not to be confused with the real campaign “not in my name”.
With approximately two hours of running time, the performance feels a bit long. The ending comes across as crafted, by repeating one of the opening scenes on the couch, as if things have to come full circle. Yet the performance makes you think, not only about the position of millennials, but about every generation that is finding its way in a changing world. While the characters constantly meta-analyze each other and quickly dismiss genuine emotions as ‘cringe’, it succeeds Millennial I Peace manages to be sharp, humorous, confrontational and entertaining.
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