Is it possible to spend a life together and still be unknowable to one another?
Review of 'We Don't Live Here Anymore' by Jakop Ahlbom Company: 8/10
‘We Don’t Live Here Anymore’ is the latest play by the Jakob Ahlbom Company that speaks to the complexity of intimacy expressed with dynamic dance. The show succeeds in merging elements of dance within a play to provocatively ask questions about trust, connection, and family life.
The show features two married couples living in the suburbs. Set in the living rooms of both couples, the play begins with the two women drinking wine around a dining table.
One woman turns to the other and confides that she thinks her husband is having an affair because he’s more distant than usual. The two women ponder over it. The other woman then reveals that she is also struggling with her relationship to her husband. She is consistently dismayed by his apparent lack of creativity and wonders too if he’s having an affair with one of his students.
When the foursome are brought together for a dinner, they are merry, drink wine, and sing ‘So Happy Together’. However, larger cracks start to show in their respective relationships, bringing forth the discomforts of speaking about intimacy, trust, and desire.
Fundamentally, the play asks: how well do you know a partner’s inner life?
The mesh of dance within the play is seamless. It is dance that reveals much of the characters’ expressions, although sometimes overtly so. They dance around each other, around tables and chairs, expressing their big feelings with large movements or crouching, comforting each other when in need. Indeed, the physical motor skills of the actors must be lauded here and their excellence provides another hook for viewer engagement.
Overall, We Don’t Live Here Anymore is suspenseful and exciting. It speaks to a disappointment in love and long-term partnership with fluidity in dance that reveal the true emotions of the characters. Although the storyline is not particularly moving, it leaves one to ponder if it’s possible to spend a life together with someone and still be unknowable to one another.
We Don’t Live Here Anymore plays until January 4th, 2026 in various cities in The Netherlands.
The Hague Review: 8/10
Seen at Koninklijke Schouwburg (The Royal Theatre), Het National Theatre, The Hague, December 13th, 2025.
