The performance “The Solitude Monologues” was created in the Arte-factum theatre research and introspection laboratory, as the result of a detailed documentation process based on relevant valid scientific studies about the loneliness phenomenon, and it was insipred both by surrounding reality, real cases, statistic data, the city’s tales and the work of authors Ken Kesey, Franz Kafka, Michel Houellebecq, as well as filmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
*Performed in Romanian, with English surtitles
”In our days, loneliness is no longer a subjective, personal state of mind, but a severe collective malady affecting individuals and society to a great extent, leading to the demise of millions of people every year. Countries which are aware of the plague of solitude, such as Japan or Great Britain, have founded their first Ministries of Loneliness. It is utmost important to admit that the current loneliness crises did not just appear out of nowhere, but it has grown deeper by a narcisist and selfish form of capitalism, which normalized indifference and turned self-interest in virtue. The solitude syndrome brings along a feeling of having lost something essential, the feeling of belonging to a community. Loneliness, as experts claim, supresses the brain’s ability to feel empathy. How can we bring people together in a world of alienation? In the terrible noise of commercial offers, how are we supposed to feel the stiffling silence of solitude? How can we restart our reflexes of caring about the other? The monologues which build this solitude puzzle are a reflection of our intimacy, our city, the global image of the phenomenon. Finally, the solitude monologues recompose a dystopia of Robinson Crusoe on an urban island, similar to millions of other solitary urban dwellers in Timișoara, your building stairway, New York, Tokyo or any other place pinned on the loneliness map. And because loneliness is no longer an isolated phenomenon, as rare as it used to be, I chose to talk about it and the causes which made it spread out like the new century malady not only in a serious tone, but also humorously, with irony and sarcasm”, - Levente Kocsárdi, theatre director.
The actress Fall Ilona was born on January 22nd 1940 in Târgu Mureş and most of her career was spent performing for the Csiky Gergely Hungarian state Theatre in Timișoara, where she became employed in 1978. During all this time, she performed more than 90 roles, demonstrating a charming stage presence and excellent musical talent. She was a mentor for many generations of young actors and has a thorough knowledge of Hungarian folk songs and romantic songs, as she is a great cabaret and opera performer. Her Romanian debut happened at the Brasov Theatre, whose manager and theatre director was Sică Alexandrescu, performing in “Vlaicu Vodă” and “Newsmen”. Before her decades-long career in Timisoara, she was an actress for the Sfântu Gheorghe theatre company. Now, at age 83, Fall “Babuci” Ilona is the oldest working actress in Timișoara and probably the most active actress in a leading role: The Queen, in “The Last Move”, directed by Kocsárdi Levente, which opened in 2016 at Csiky Gergely Hungarian State Theatre. Fall Ilona was also part of the team who founded the Hungarian department at Radio Timisoara in 1990 and to this day she is the most popular voice in Hungarian radio shows on Radio Timisoara.
Besides Fall Ilona, the distribution of the new performance includes actors and musicians from Romania, Serbia and Republic of Moldova: Darie Doklean, Andrei Elek, Maria Leca, Aida Olaru, Teo Cauș, Ana Andone, Serena Voaideș. The creative team working alongside director Levente Kocsárdi for this modular-architecture-theatre project include Mona Donici (dramaturgy), Anca Stoica (choregraphy), M.C.Donici (decor), Amy Bujancă (costumes, set design assistant), Sebastian Hamburger (video mapping), Zoltán Gidó (light design), Sebastian Bayer (sound design), Lilian Lupanciuc (graphics).
“The Solitude Monologues” is produced by independent theatre company Arte-Factum. Partners in implementation are Timis County Center for Culture and Art, Csiky Gergely Hungarian State Theatre Timișoara.