NOWHERE

This summer, NERGENS, the new immersive theatre piece by Schippers&VanGucht, will premiere at the Boulevard Theatre Festival. Following on from the short film ERGENS (2025) for children, the project now takes a new step: an immersive 360° film experience in VR, aimed specifically at (young) adults. 

Is there such a thing as an experience you cannot share? A feeling that words just can’t quite capture? And if so, how does that affect us? 

Following the short film *ERGENS* (2025) for children, which sparked discussions at festivals and in schools about the need to be seen, comes *NERGENS*: a new 360° film experience in VR headsets for (young) adults. 

NERGENS is set on the border between reality and imagination. As a visitor, you find yourself in the middle of a panorama. In this world, you follow four characters, each of whom deals with a lack of connection in their own way. The space closes in around you in four sections, so that these people’s different perspectives come together to form a whole. 

The story is structured like a palindrome; like a word that can be read both forwards and backwards. Literally, ‘palin’ means ‘again’ and ‘dromos’ means ‘to run’. In NERGENS, the characters move between memory and dream, between change and permanence, yet they always find themselves back at the same point; an in-between space where a sense of loss becomes apparent. 

NERGENS is an invitation to reflect on what connects us and what you miss when there is no contact. 

Since 2007, Schippers&VanGucht, based in Breda, has been creating ‘theatre works’ at the intersection of installation, film and performance, in which encounter, experience and connection take centre stage. 

We believe that even in brief encounters, however short they may be, a connection can be formed. 

A shared experience of distance and closeness 

Visitors take their seats, put on a VR headset and leave the physical space behind them. In the 360° world, a multi-layered experience unfolds in which you, the viewer, find yourself at the heart of the story. The perspectives of the four characters surround you and constantly bring you back to the same core question: what happens when sharing feels impossible? 

NERGENS is both an individual and a collective experience. You experience the work in the presence of others, yet each person does so from their own inner world. It is an invitation to reflect on the moments when connection seems self-evident — and on the void that arises when that connection is missing. 

Practical information 

NERGENS – *Sometimes Sharing Is Impossible* will premiere from 6 to 16 August 2026 during the Boulevard Theatre Festival in ’s-Hertogenbosch.