A premiere co-production at the German State Theatre and the Csiky Gergely Hungarian State Theatre in Timișoara
2 combined theatre troupes, 36 actors, 44 chairs, 12 tables, 20 coffees bags, dozens of litres of coffee, two intense rehearsal months. A show in premiere, a first collaboration, a game in the world of dreams, with a scent of coffee - all under one name: Moliendo café, directed by an iconic director, Silviu Purcărete.
The first performance of the show will see the limelight on
The stage design of the show is signed by Dragoș Buhagiar, and the music by Vasile Şirli. The cast brings together almost all the actors of the two theatres. The entire show revolves around the theme of coffee: "Coffee and theatre are two absolute and indispensable perks – which means that they have no real use, but everybody uses them. Coffee is the extreme perk", says director Silviu Purcărete.
Yet how do you combine two theatre groups, a Hungarian and a German one, under one director? The key found by director Silviu Purcărete, invited to work for this premiere's co-production, was that of the acting game brought back to its essence: high class improvisation. The starting point was an extended workshop, with improvisation exercises that involved both groups. Inspired by the reminiscent power of coffee, the actors themselves created a world that exists exclusively by and for the taste of this elixir. For this reason, the entire cast of this show is considered a collective creator of this unique production. Moreover, the show Moliendo café has its own language, an invented idiom, but comprehensible by anyone.
"Moliendo café is a premiere in many ways, being the first collaboration with Silviu Purcărete and the first co-production with the Hungarian Theatre", explains Lucian Vărșăndan, the director of the German State Theatre Timișoara. "It's a show that transcends language and cultural barriers, being based on the over 100 improvisations suggested by more than 35 actors during the rehearsal months, improvisations orchestrated and harmonized by Silviu Purcărete", he adds.
"We have built together a show of contrasts", says Balázs Attila, the director of Csiky Gergely Hungarian State Theatre. Moliendo café incorporates the everything and nothingness, it is a production which comprises all that's necessary, but from which we can dismiss anything. Even the set – extremely elementary – covers everything, but, in fact, it is unseen, almost inexistent. As for the text that's necessary for every show, we only have a pre-text: the pretext of expressing our passion for the art of improvisation. And for coffee, of course."
