Before The Story Starts

This is not the start of the story, we haven’t started yet. 
This is not the beginning. 

What do you need to know? Before we start? 
We don’t know why.
We can guess, but we don’t know. We never will.
We can choose. And be satisfied with an answer. But we never know.

The elusive Why.

Before the Story Starts is an experimental, immersive, one man theatre performance that takes place in the liminal moment before a (or THE) story begins.
Inspired by The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Being John Malkovich, The Matrix and Alan Watts, masterstoryteller Thomas Dudkiewicz travels through the subconscious of the universe, in pursuit of answers.
This story that is not yet a story has a surreal structure filled with cryptic hosts, erratic guides, and philosophical dead-ends.
As he meets his alter ego(s) he unravels the story of why, why is it that he tells stories? How is meaning built? And what happens when we confront the terrifying possibility that there may never be a final answer?

Credits

Script, concept and performance Thomas Dudkiewicz
Scenography and light design Marijn Alexander de Jong
Sound design and creative technologist Tomas Loos
Costume design Rebekka Wörmann
Technical Producer Jaap Schledorn
Technician Denzo (André Goos)
Light operator Oerol Desmond Veldhuis
Production Manager Elise de Fooij
Intern Oerol Mees Vroone
Coach Naomi Velissariou
Marketing & communication Pien Visser
Business Management Martha van Meegen and Marijn Bellaard
Business Assistant Denise de Hoog
Production URLAND

Special thanks to

Hendrik Walther, Caro Derkx, Vanja Rukavina en Florian Hellwig. Made possible by Gemeente Rotterdam, Fonds Podiumkunsten and Cultuurloket DigitAll.

Agenda

16 September 2026 20:00 try-out
URLAND.space. Rotterdam
17 September 2026 20:00 try-out
URLAND.space. Rotterdam
18 September 2026 20:00 try-out
URLAND.space. Rotterdam
22 September 2026 20:30 try-out
23 September 2026 20:30 Zaalpremière
24 September 2026 20:30
28 September 2026 20:00
6 October 2026 20:00
9 October 2026 20:30
13 October 2026 20:15
15 October 2026 20:00
16 October 2026 20:00
17 October 2026 20:15
21 October 2026 20:30
22 October 2026 20:00
27 October 2026 20:00
28 October 2026 20:00
29 October 2026 20:30
30 October 2026 20:15
31 October 2026 20:15

Played Venues

URLAND.space, Explore The North, Frascati, Oerol Festival

Documentation