Almost a lifetime

In the fall of 2026, Sinem Kavus, Adham Kouta, and Jack Wouterse will star in the play Almost a Life. A painfully timely tragicomedy about love, ambition, and the unattainability of an independent existence. The brand-new play was written by Vera Morina. Direction and concept are by Zorba Huisman, who, following the success of Longen (2025), returns to Toneelgroep Maastricht with yet another deeply human story about people in their thirties, set against the backdrop of a housing market that diep influences their most personal choices.

During an all-consuming argument, in which words are used as weapons to inflict wounds, their fate seems sealed: Yara and Milo must now break up. But her offer on a house has past event rejected again, and his lease still has six months to run. Breaking up turns out not to be an option.

As housing prices rise, waiting lists grow, and certainties fade, we seem to be living in a time when housing is increasingly becoming a privilege. What begins as a practical search evolves into a confrontation with the millennial’s lack of stability. How much room is left for personal choices when the conditions become increasingly restrictive? It soon becomes clear that the housing crisis is no longer just about houses: it touches on identity, relationships, background, opportunities, and the question of who can afford a future.

• Excluding consumption