Tussen Liefde en Erfgoed (Between Love and Legacy)

Act 1: Erfenis van Schaduwen (Inheritance of Shadows) 

Settings: Amsterdam & Haarlem (Netherlands) | Brussels (Belgium) | Paris (France) | Galway (Ireland) | Bruges, Leuven, Ghent & Antwerp (Bruges) | Montréal (Canada) 

• Liesbeth van Laarhoven emerges into Amsterdam's cultural spotlight with a provocative installation that draws both elite acclaim and underground attention.

• Valentijn De Blauw returns to Brussels from Ghent for a lecture series and encounters Liesbeth at a panel in Haarlem—intellectual sparks fly, but they are aware of the worlds they represent.

• In Paris, Sebastiaan van den Meer reaches out with troubling news connected to the van Laarhoven legacy. Liesbeth is drawn into his quiet world of faded diplomacy and secrets.

• Lieven van Laarhoven grows increasingly erratic in public appearances; whispered scandals about decades-old coverups begin circulating in Brussels.

• A private meeting between Maartje Visser and her son, Willem Visser reveals a calculated plan to bring Liesbeth into their fold—through flattery, media elevation, and matchmaking.

• Meanwhile in Antwerp and Bruges, Rikkert De Wilde begins sowing disinformation across cultural networks, targeting Valentijn’s credibility and ethics.

• In Leuven, she receives a letter from Sebastiaan containing clues about two men with ties to her mother, Hendrika van Laarhoven, whose silence remains deliberate.

• Stijn De Blauw, in Ghent, privately urges his brother Valentijn to step away from Liesbeth, warning that the political climate is turning.

• In a clandestine moment at Galway, Liesbeth and Valentijn agree to a secret engagement—both afraid and certain.

• Toos van der Linden subtly guides Liesbeth at Café De Zwaan in Amsterdam, warning her of Maartje’s true intentions while revealing quiet knowledge of the van Laarhoven family’s buried secrets.

Act 2: Sluiers van het Verleden (Veils of the Past) 

Settings: Amsterdam (Netherlands) | Brussels, Mons, Liège, Hainaut & Namur (Belgium) | Giethoorn, Lisse, Utrecht, Den Haag & Rotterdam (Netherlands) | New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Miami (USA) | Sydney & Melbourne (Australia) | Cape Town (South Africa) 

• Liesbeth travels to Giethoorn and Lisse, following an archival trail tied to her childhood memories. In a cottage in Utrecht, she meets Joris van Laarhoven, the first of her hidden brothers—a hesitant but quietly resolute law student.

• Later in Rotterdam, she is contacted through encrypted messages by Lisanne van Laarhoven, who warns her of the surveillance around her and her fiancé.

• Hans Vermeer unofficially steps in to assist, caught between duty to the van Laarhoven family and rising pressure from internal forces seeking to use Liesbeth’s growing platform for national interests. 

• Liesbeth’s studio in Amsterdam is infiltrated and her archives seized, prompting international condemnation and deepening her resolve.

• In Brussels, Valentijn begins losing academic invitations. Behind closed doors, Geert De Saeger distances himself diplomatically—publicly neutral, privately undermining.

• Pastoor Zeno De Coster quietly mentors Valentijn and Liesbeth, offering cryptic counsel that deepens their resolve and warns of deeper spiritual stakes behind the political games unfolding. 

• Astrid De Blauw attempts to contain the fallout as Liesbeth’s name becomes entangled in EU discourse, while Jozef De Blauw questions whether Valentijn has lost clarity.

• Liesbeth traces Lisanne’s early activist routes through Mons and Liège, uncovering surveillance patterns. In Hainaut, she narrowly evades capture during a covert meeting. In Namur, she and Hans uncover files linking the van Laarhoven legacy to EU intelligence operations.

• In Cape Town, Liesbeth collaborates with local artists to expose systemic racial and economic inequalities, using vibrant murals and performances that draw international attention and deepen her commitment to global justice.

• A tour of major U.S. cities follows, arranged partly to restore credibility and partly to escape European scrutiny. Each city—New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Miami—brings applause but also invasive interrogation.

• In Sydney, Liesbeth hosts a rebellious exhibit exposing state-corporate complicity in digital manipulation. That night, a digital leak accuses her of financing activism through illicit channels.

• In Melbourne, Valentijn hosts a clandestine symposium on media ethics, exposing manipulation tactics while secretly forging alliances to counter Rikkert’s disinformation campaign.

• Willem van Brederode, under Maartje’s pressure, stages a public “chance encounter” with Liesbeth in Den Haag, stirring tabloids and angering Valentijn.

Act 3: Breuklijnen (Fault Lines) 

Settings: Amsterdam (Netherlands) | Brussels, Eupen & St. Vith (Belgium) | Berlin, Frankfurt & Munich (Munich) | Vienna (Austria) | Prague (Czechia) | Budapest (Hungary) | Warsaw (Poland) | Copenhagen (Denmark) | Stockholm (Sweden) | Oslo & Stryn (Norway) | London & Edinburgh (UK) | Dublin (Ireland) 

• In Berlin, an anti-corruption panel featuring Valentijn is stormed by protestors with manipulated footage. Liesbeth is blamed, despite no involvement.

• In Prague and Vienna, she continues her underground exhibitions, weaving coded messages into her art to reach Lisanne and Joris without surveillance interception.

• Tensions escalate as Geert delivers a confidential briefing implicating Valentijn in academic fraud—a forgery engineered by Rikkert.

• In Budapest, a data vault linked to Liesbeth’s family estate is raided. Lisanne uncovers that the vault was used by government actors to track dissidents.

• Liesbeth returns to Amsterdam, where Hendrika finally reveals how she was forced into silence about Lisanne and Joris after Lieven brokered a political alliance for his own survival.

• Hans Verhagen begins leaking anonymous truths to journalists—exposing corruption, but putting himself at risk.

• In Brussels, a parliamentary inquiry opens into academic corruption; Valentijn is summoned but delivers a defiant statement that sways public opinion.

• In Eupen & St. Vith, Liesbeth and Valentijn meet secretly with German-speaking EU officials who offer asylum-level protections in exchange for testimony—marking a turning point in their fight against institutional corruption.

• In Warsaw, Valentijn is nearly detained during a conference due to diplomatic pressure orchestrated by Geert and Maartje’s network.

• Stijn, having remained quiet, starts working from within the art world to clear his brother’s name and discredit Rikkert’s influence.

• Liesbeth and Valentijn spend a somber evening in Copenhagen—still engaged but deeply uncertain.

• In the Nordics, the press turns—Stockholm, Oslo & Stryn begin to reframe Liesbeth and Valentijn as victims of systemic injustice.

• At the Tate Modern, Liesbeth delivers a veiled but powerful speech on art and complicity. In Edinburgh, Valentijn uncovers documents linking Geert and Rikkert to forged scandals.

• In Dublin, Liesbeth meets a key EU surveillance whistleblower. They provide her with irrefutable evidence—shifting the balance of power, but increasing her risk.

• Liesbeth unveils a provocative installation on Ireland’s colonial past, sparking intense debate and solidarity movements that strengthen her global resistance network.

Act 4: Afrekening (Reckoning) 

Settings: Amsterdam (Netherlands) | Brussels (Belgium) | Rome, Florence, Milan, Lake Como & Venice (Italy) | Madrid & Barcelona (Spain) | Lisbon (Portugal) | Mexico City, Guadalajara, Oaxaca & San Miguel de Allende (Mexico) | Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 

• In Rome and Milan, Liesbeth becomes the centerpiece of an artistic rebellion against fascist aesthetics—drawing both admiration and renewed threats. 

• While sailing across Lake Como, she and Valentijn reconnect and vow not to let the world break them. Their secret engagement becomes public after a journalist captures their private moment.

• In Venice, a political art installation of hers goes viral for condemning hypocrisy in EU cultural policy, triggering outrage among her enemies.

• Maartje suffers her first major public backlash as Liesbeth exposes covert funding of media campaigns linked to her.

• In Lisbon, Stijn arranges a cross-border artist-diplomat summit that begins shifting sentiment across southern Europe.

• In Mexico, Liesbeth and Lisanne hold their first public sibling forum, challenging surveillance states and inspiring protests in Rio de Janeiro.

• Meanwhile, Rikkert's shady transactions are leaked, leading to his quiet exit from political consulting.

• Valentijn delivers a historic lecture in Madrid on cultural memory and redemption—his reputation partially restored.

• In Barcelona, Liesbeth unveils a provocative mural on censorship that triggers youth-led demonstrations and solidarity exhibits across Catalonia.

• Lieven finally confesses publicly to his coverup, resigning and asking forgiveness. 

• In Brussels, Maartje faces a closed-door ethics hearing as leaked internal memos tie her to smear campaigns; the Brederode influence begins to fracture.

Act 5: Het Herstel (The Restoration) 

Settings: Amsterdam (Netherlands) | Brussels (Belgium) | Zürich, Lucerne, Interlaken, Zermatt, Grindelwald, Gstaad, Davos, St. Moritz, Geneva, Lausanne & Montreux (Switzerland)

• Liesbeth and Valentijn marry in Gstaad in a private ceremony—surrounded by allies, reconciled family, and mountain silence and blessed by Pastoor Zeno. Her art is projected on the snowy Alps.

• Back in Amsterdam, Toos hosts quiet gatherings at Café De Zwaan, offering counsel to emerging artists and activists—her café becomes a sanctuary of memory, resilience, and quiet resistance.

• In Zürich and Geneva, Liesbeth launches a global foundation to support dissident artists, whistleblowers, and exiled creatives. Lisanne is appointed director of cybersecurity.

• Joris opens a legal advocacy center in Brussels, focused on protecting whistleblower rights and digital freedoms.

• Hans retires, publishes memoirs, and becomes an unexpected cultural figurehead.

• In Zermatt and Montreux, Liesbeth and Valentijn host quiet salons—artists, thinkers, activists gather in shared purpose.

• They retreat briefly to Lucerne, Grindelwald, Gstaad and Lausanne—renewing their bond.

• Valentijn becomes cultural ambassador to the UN, supported by Astrid and admired by Stijn.

• Astrid, quietly proud, reconciles with Liesbeth in St. Moritz, where old truths are put to rest.

• In Davos, Liesbeth delivers a keynote on art as moral resistance. The world listens.

• Their final exhibition in Amsterdam—“Restoration”—becomes both catharsis and cultural reckoning.

Main Characters

• Liesbeth De Blauw (neé van Laarhoven)(Female Lead): Dutch artist from a prestigious family, drawn into political intrigue. Strong-willed and idealistic, torn between love and legacy.

• Valentijn De Blauw (Male Lead): Belgian cultural historian with aristocratic roots. Intelligent, principled, and passionately in love with Liesbeth

• Maartje Visser (Main Antagonist): Charismatic populist Dutch politician. Ruthless and manipulative; seeks to exploit Liesbeth for political gain.

Supporting Characters

• Lieven van Laarhoven: Liesbeth’s father. A politician hiding painful family secrets.

• Hendrika van Laarhoven: Liesbeth’s mother. An ex-art curator with aristocratic roots, she understands the unspoken rules of legacy, scandal, and survival in elite Dutch society.

• Lisanne van Laarhoven: Liesbeth’s long-lost sister. Hacker-activist challenging state power.

• Joris van Laarhoven: Liesbeth’s long-lost brother. Law student, more cautious but pulled into public life.

• Willem Visser: Maartje’s brutish son. Art curator meant to be a political pawn in Maartje’s matchmaking scheme.

• Rikkert De Wilde: Charming but duplicitous Belgian media strategist. Orchestrates campaigns to ruin Valentijn’s credibility.

• Toos van der Linden: Warm and observant owner of Café De Zwaan in Amsterdam. A quiet confidante to Liesbeth, she knows more than she lets on and serves as a grounding presence amid political chaos.

• Pastoor Zeno De Coster: Flemish spiritual guide in Brussels. Mysterious and serene, he offers Liesbeth and Valentijn cryptic wisdom that helps them navigate moral dilemmas and uncover hidden truths about their families and destinies.

• Sebastiaan van der Meer: Exiled former diplomat, now in Paris. Guardian of Liesbeth’s secret brothers, key to the family’s hidden past.

• Hans Vermeer: Dutch intelligence officer loyal to Liesbeth’s family. Torn between duty and emerging truths.

• Jozef De Blauw: Valentijn’s father. Belgian nobleman with conservative values, wary of Liesbeth’s influence.

• Astrid De Blauw: Valentijn’s mother. Influential in EU affairs, understands the cost of diplomacy and scandal.

• Stijn De Blauw: Valentijn’s younger brother. Art curator and possible ally.

• Geert De Saeger: Flemish diplomat. Initially supportive but ultimately betrays Valentijn under pressure. 

Primary Setting: Amsterdam, Netherlands | Brussels, Belgium

Other Settings: Netherlands (Rotterdam, Zaandam, Den Haag, Haarlem, Giethoorn, Lisse & Utrecht) | Belgium (Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, Leuven, Mons, Liège, Hainaut, Namur, Eupen & St. Vith) | Paris, France | UK (London & Edinburgh) | Ireland (Dublin & Germany) | Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt & Munich) | Vienna, Austria |  | Switzerland (Zürich, Lucerne, Interlaken, Zermatt, Grindelwald, Geneva, Davos, St. Moritz, Gstaad, Geneva, Lausanne & Montreux) | Italy (Rome, Florence, Milan, Lake Como & Venice) | Spain (Madrid & Barcelona) | Lisbon, Portugal | Prague, Czechia | Budapest, Hungary | Warsaw, Poland | Copenhagen, Denmark | Norway (Oslo & Stryn) |  Stockholm, Sweden | USA (New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Miami) | Mexico (Mexico City, Guadalajara, Oaxaca & San Miguel de Allende) | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Australia (Sydney & Melbourne) | Cape Town, South Africa