ROTTERDAM, SEPTEMBER 17, 2025 - At the premiere of the youth performance Double Tap Stairs this Friday 19 September at Maaspodium Rotterdam, visitors are only allowed into the venue if they temporarily hand in their phones. Maker Rajiv Bhagwanbalithus aims to make directly tangible how social media affects young people's lives and brains.
The show translates the online world to theatre with fast-paced scenes full of flips, rap and freestyle football. Everything revolves around likes: an influencer loses himself in switching characters, a footballer does endless challenges to hold on to followers and a dancer slowly becomes exhausted by the pressure to be more and more spectacular.
Self-image
According to creator Rajiv Bhagwanbali, it is Double Tap Stairs not an attack on social media, but rather an invitation to reflection and a search for real contact. "Social media also brings us many great things. It connects with family and friends, inspires, gives access to knowledge and lets your voice be heard. But it becomes problematic when young people let their self-image depend on likes, views and hearts. Then something that is meant to connect turns into something that makes them insecure. The danger lies in that hunt for outside affirmation, while you lose real contact, with yourself and others."
Social media sabbatical
Cast member Indirah Tauwnaar recognised herself in her role as a fashionista influencer during rehearsals. "I play someone who lives for the likes, but I noticed that in real life I was also mainly concerned with what scored the best. That was a wake-up call." She decided to take a social media sabbatical. "I want to feel again why I share something, instead of just chasing followers. Now I focus more on the people close to me." For Indirah, the show thus became more than a role: "I realised how easily you lose yourself online, but also how valuable real contact is. I grant that to every young person."
Experience
Handing in phones at a theatre performance is exceptional in the Netherlands. At Double Tap Stairs it is part of the experience, so visitors directly experience what it feels like not to look at your phone screen for an evening.
