Niet meer zonder jou

Writer and actress Nazmiye Oral and her mother Havva achieved success all over the world with the theatre production No Longer Without You. Thousands of people visited the performance, except their family; Havva did not want them to know what she was doing. Now they are performing the play for the first time in front of their family.

For over two years, Nazmiye and Havva played No Longer Without You in community centres and in theatres, from Amsterdam to New York. Nazmiye: 'My deeply religious mother wanted to play everywhere except in Hengelo. No one was allowed to know what she was doing. For me, she went with me to my territory - the theatre - as the ultimate love offering. I also wanted to play the play where it all started - in her territory - Hengelo. In front of my family.' Havva agrees when Nazmiye's 14-year-old younger brother gives permission.

As the ultimate act of intimacy, mother and daughter play No Longer Without You in the small living room of Havva's flat in Hengelo. Sitting on the sofa, with tense faces, are Nazmiye's two brothers, sister, neighbour and daughters. Across from them is herself with her mother Havva. The frank dialogue about religion, family, sexuality, traditions, norms and values - based on their shared history - generates a lot of commentary from the sofa. There is anger, frustration, emotion, love, reproach, but also recognition and acknowledgement.