The Almighty Sometimes at the Chassé Theatre

Director Daria Bukvić is back in Dutch theatres with an award-winning play about a brilliant teenage girl with mental health issues.

Now an adult, Anna (Selin Akkulak) has been dealing with mental health problems since she was eight. For most of her life, she has had a 'label' for which she is in therapy and taking heavy medication. Anna wants to write, but her fantastic stories are seen not only as expressions of her creativity but also as evidence of her mental state. At the same time, she is still a teenager who can be harsh and ruthless towards those close to her. Now that Anna has turned 18, she wants to seize the opportunity to become more independent from her mother (Maartje Remmers) and psychiatrist (Renée Soutendijk). The two women have always protected Anna and now realise they need to let her go. Against the advice of those around her, Anna stops taking her medication; an action that has significant consequences for her and everyone she loves.

Who am I without my medication? 
The Almighty Sometimes is a compelling story that takes you through all the doubts and dilemmas surrounding growing up with a mental health baggage and the question of ‘to take pills or not?’. It is the story of a young woman fighting for her autonomy and questioning which part of her is truly herself and which part is caused by her medication. A production about unconditional mother-daughter love, but also about how tough it is to live with a child suffering from depression – and the feeling of never being able to get it right.

About director Daria Bukvić 
Director Daria Bukvić (1989) has created successful crowd-pleasers like Nobody Home, Othello, Melk & Dadels and the box office hit Meskina. In 2021, she became the artistic director of Theater Oostpool. There, she created the acclaimed Girls and Boys (2021), for which lead actress Hadewych Minis won a Theo d’Or in 2022, and the multidisciplinary theatre spectacle Midzomernachtsdroom (2022).