BEING WRONG

Being wrong and how to admit it is a monologue that I’ve written myself for the acclaimed Dutch actress Kirsten Mulder. In this piece Kirsten embodies a political leader struggling to take responsibility and apologise for the general wrongness of her political beliefs and the thereupon based choices she has made in the past. The character cannot bring herself to put the apology into words and instead shifts into a defensive rant, giving the audience an impression of her inner conflicts and the many roles she has to cover: as a leader, a representative, the personification of “the system”, and eventually as a private human being.

Being wrong and how to admit it calls for a more nuanced public debate and a more open political culture in which it would be easier to own mistakes and apologise for them, to forgive one another and then move on together - at the same time acknowledging the complexity that makes such a change seem almost impossible to achieve at times.

This piece marks an important step in my ongoing research about (female) leadership and responsibility.

 
Being wrong and how to admit it premiered on 30th October 2020 at Het Nationale Theater, The Hague, was nominated for the BNG Bank Theaterprijs at the 2021 Dutch Theatre Festival and is currently reprised in Dutch theatres.