on
by Jean-Luc Lagarce, directed by Radu Afrim
Louis: Cristian Balint
Suzanne: Paula Niculiţă
Antoine: Mihai Smarandache
Catherine: Antoaneta Zaharia
Mama: Rodica Mandache
Louis’s friends: Meda Victor, Adrian Drăgănescu, Bogdan Alexandru
A performance by: Radu Afrim
Stage design: Mihai Păcurar
Video: Wonderboy
Translated by: Eugenia Anca Rotescu
National Theatre Festival “Mettre en scenes”, Rennes, France, November 19-22, 2008
National Theatre Festival, Bucharest, November 8, 2008
Tales for kids and grown-ups Festival, Alba Iulia , October 4, 2007
Opening night: May 24, 2007
Duration: 1h 45′
Press reviews
A courageous and exciting performance, with a peculiar poetic touch. What remains unsaid plays the most important part in Afrim’s performance, whereas the spoken word is only partially used. Escaping the words, together with the video images projected in the background, offer the surrealism dose, that personal trademark of Radu Afrim’s performances.
– Adevărul
The islands of inner desert, the characters that float drifty on the stage, show how Radu Afrim has changed his style again. Without exchanging lines with soliloquies that cross one another, on stage we meet not only people in flesh and blood, but shadows of nostalgia, of projections, of memories, of what might have been if…
– Adevărul
Lagarce’s play is harsh like a quartz. Ruthless like death. Sharp like a sheet of paper. Poetically written by Lagarce, an AIDS victim. Forces you to kindly remember of the childhood Sundays painted in green and red, of the best friends made far away from home, of the need for love (yours and other’s), of the right to be (un)happy. A carusel of emotions, sensations and flashbacks that smothers any impulse that Louis may have to tell his family he is dying…
If you want the whole story, go and live this performance. Radu Afrim chose a group of extraordinary actors. The superb stage design of Mihai Pacurar, a touching sequence of travesti plus a surprisingly beautiful voice. A theater performance. A real one.
If you want the whole story, go and live this performance. Radu Afrim chose a group of extraordinary actors. The superb stage design of Mihai Pacurar, a touching sequence of travesti plus a surprisingly beautiful voice. A theater performance. A real one.
– Jurnalul Național
Beyond the acting part, so well focused and coherent, the performance has another strong point: the choreographical moments – cabaret fragments, improvised dances, milimetricaly calculated movements. The stage design, as well as the video projection created by Mihai Pacurar, are both very well studied, like in a laboratory. The performance has plenty of games, allusions, details that create the perfect puzzle, therefore it requires full awareness.
– Cotidianul
