WHY THE CHILD IS COOKING IN THE POLENTA Comes to United Solo

After successful representations in Zürich, Bucharest, Munich and Passau, "Why the child is cooking in the polenta" is going to be staged in New York this November!

The play was selected to be part of the largest solo theatre festival in the world, United Solo. On November 1st, 2017, 07:30 PM, at the renown Theatre Row in New York, the Romanian actress Edith Alibec is going to play her one-woman-show produced in Munich, Germany and based on the book with the same name by Aglaja Veteranyi, that speaks about fleeing your own country in search of fame and luxury in the West.

The show asks the question: What is it to feel "foreign"?

A feeling experienced by many nowadays, including Edith Alibec, who was a foreigner in Germany for 3 years as she was an acting student at Athanor Akademie, the school led by the renown theatre director, David Esrig. 'As a foreigner in Germany for 3 years, I asked myself a lot of similar questions: What do I have to do to belong? How am I perceived? Am I undervalued? Am I still the same? All that I knew to be true about myself was under a sign of uncertainty. Also, having seen on-site the refugee crisis burst out in Germany, I began to strongly feel the urge to speak about the absence of a place called "home". After 2 months of intense researching and interviews with refugees or other foreigners, I submitted a concept to the Cultural Department of the City of Munich, which accepted to provide the funding for staging the theatre play.

I had already known the novel "Why the child is cooking the polenta" by Aglaja Veteranyi, but it got a totally different weight the moment when I myself lived abroad just like the novel's heroine. I began to empathize with the character. The feeling of not being understood, loneliness, skepticism and lack of confidence - I have felt all this with a strong new intensity.'

The book lies at the border between fiction and reality and can be considered autobiographical. Aglaja Veteranyi herself is a child who fled Romania together with her family of circus artists (her father was the clown ??nd?ric?) in 1968, when she was only 6. The story is told from the perspective of this child, a growing up girl. Full of illusions, the family pursues the promises of the West, a big house will be bought, the girl will become a film star, but the events take a completely different turn. in a circus

The one-woman-show premiered in March 2016 in Munich, Germany. As a Romanian girl playing in the German language, the foreign accent fitted perfectly the situation. After a year, in March 2017, the show was staged for the first time in Romanian in Bucharest. And on October 12th 2017 it will be performed for the first time in English at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London. The director is Dana Paraschiv.

The one-woman-show premiered in Munich, Germany (MUCCA) with further stagings in

• Zürich, Switzerland (Cabaret Voltaire)
• Passau, Germany (Redoute Theatre)
• Munich, Germany (Pasinger Fabrik)
• Bucharest, Romania (Odeon Theatre, Teatrelli, Godot Cafe Theatre)
• Bucharest, Romania (Green Hours) - Marathon of Independent Theatre
• Braila, Romania (Maria Filotti Theatre) - Days and Nights Festival
• Constanta, Romania (Oleg Danowski Theatre) - Festival of Independent Theatre
• Tulcea, Romania (Jean BArt Theatre) - Tragos Festival
• London, UK (Romanian Cultural Institute Theatrical Space)

The two girls are happy to be able to get to this show to New York. A 100% backed crowdfunding campaign allows them to cover the costs of traveling there. 'We are still trying to make sense of everything that has happened, the immense support we have received from so many people. I think we wanted to attend this festival, but honestly, it was not as special as this campaign made it to be. It's no longer about our participation there, but about a lot of people who have contributed to it and it made it mean something. This collective support is overwhelming, and when we play, we will play for all those who have believed in this project.', Edith Alibec writes on her Facebook page. The campaign link can be found here: https://igg.me/at/whythechildNY/x/16689524

The show is scheduled in New York on November 1st, 2017 at 7:30 PM and tickets can be found here: http://unitedsolo.org/us/whythechild-2017/. Anyone who has lived abroad or lives abroad will find himself or herself in the story. 'In the end it is a well-told story, starting with the text, which is wonderfully written. Ultimately anyone fits the target audience, anyone who wants to witness a good story being told. The ones who have had the experience of being a foreigner will relate even more to the story.'

A special performance took place in November 2016 at Cabaret Voltaire in Zürich, the home of dadaism, with the support of Romanian Cultural Institute Vienna. Aglaja Veteranyi's partner for 8 years before her death in 2001, Jens Nielsen, was in attendance. His review: "Edith Alibec shows an astonishing agility in her performance of the Polenta book. Her versatile interpretation of the child, who is cooked in the polenta, is characterised by a fine instinct for how to address her audience. (The author of the novel also possessed this trait, which she lent to the first person narrator.) Again and again the spectator is surprised to realise that someone else is on the stage - and then someone else - good solo players can create this impression. One could only wish Fellini had discovered Edith Alibec. On the other hand it's nice to see she has a career ahead of her - and not behind."

With a mother that hangs by her hair and a father that is clown, Aglaja has one wish: to become as famous as Sophia Loren when she grows up. But the family lives always on the road after fleeing their own country in search of fame and luxury in the West. Will the family's ambitions prove to be only mere illusions? Director: Dana Paraschiv. Recommended for: teenagers, adults, elderly, theatre community, immigrants, anyone who lived abroad.

The show on the United Solo page: http://unitedsolo.org/us/whythechild-2017/

Tickets can be found here: www.bit.ly/TicketsNY

2017 United Solo is the world's largest solo theatre festival, currently in its 8th season. All shows are staged at Theatre Row: 410 West 42nd Street, New York City. TICKETS, with a price of $35 (plus a $2.25 Theatre Restoration Charge) are available at the Theatre Row Box Office and online through Telecharge at www.telecharge.com. You may also call Telecharge at 212-239-6200. When placing your reservation, please provide: the FESTIVAL name (United Solo Theatre Festival), the name of THEATRE (Theatre Row - The Studio Theatre), and the specific DAY and TIME of SHOW you would like to see.