DER VERLORENE GEBURTSTAG
performance >>> vienna, austria >>> 2023
Anna is Viennese. She lives in Josefstadt. One day she comes home from work and finds out that her boyfriend Paul has prepared a surprise party for her. That’s right. She has forgotten: she has turned 30, and today is her birthday. She soon realizes that Paul has invited a lot of people she would never invite: her ex-husband, her annoying boss, her abusive ex-boyfriend, etc. Trying to maneuver her way through the party crowd to avoid awkward conversations, she bumps into her father, who passed away several years ago, and realizes that something is wrong with this birthday party. The performance turns out to be a parable about self-reflection and emancipation, and the 30th birthday represents the turning point in life when Anna reevaluates her experiences and choices.
The piece is based on documentary material – interviews and conversations with women and men who were psychologically abused and/or considered their relationships co-dependent. The real-life stories served as inspiration for fictional characters and a surreal fictional plot that explores themes of emancipation and equality in a condensed and symbolic form. Six characters – Anna (the lead), and five men she has met in her life (from her boyfriend to her father) are played by two actresses who jump in and out of the roles and situations, telling and commenting on the story simultaneously
We talk about traumas that are difficult to talk about, and that are rarely talked about. Humans are generally very lonely creatures. But we have the unique ability to share our loneliness with others. And at that very moment, paradoxically, we become less lonely. In this piece, we want to give voice to those things that are often experienced alone.
The story is meant to reflect the sensitive issues that come with partnership. The space that partners share with each other alters and distorts their personal spaces; the life experiences they bring to their relationship take on completely different perspectives; good intentions manifest in harmful ways. We want to explore where the line is between love and co-dependency, when caring turns to abuse, why intimacy can be intimidating, and how to accept each other’s differences and find harmony in togetherness.
PERFORMERS
DIRECTING AND TEXT
ivan strelkin
PREMIERE
took place
on 2.11.2023
at PYGMALION THEATER
photos by lukasz czapski
the project is supported by the 8th district Josefstadt
Flirty Horse 