The string of premieres at our chamber theatre space in 1 Belgrave Square resumes in October with a touching performance inspired by the autobiographical novel of Swiss-Romanian Aglaja Veteranyi, the brilliant and tragic figure who committed suicide at 39 after a most spectacular life. Led by director Dana Paraschiv and starring the gifted Edith Alibec, the show is based on Veteranyi’s amazing experiences and allows for a memorable voice that it at once lyrical and jaded, mundane and spiritual, comical and ghastly.

A nomadic family of circus performers, refugees from communist Romania, travels through Europe and Africa by caravan. The mother’s death-defying act causes constant anxiety for her two daughters, who voice their fears through a grisly communal fairy tale about a child being cooked alive in polenta—but their real life is no less of a dark fable, and one that seems just as unlikely to have a happy ending.

“A show as it should be: dense, poetical, very visual. No word is too much, no minute is too long.” (Cătălin Dorian Florescu)

Why the Child Is Cooking in the Polenta

By Aglaja Veteranyi
Adapted for the stage by: Dana Paraschiv and Edith Alibec
Directed by: Dana Paraschiv
With: Edith Alibec

The show is performed in English and runs for approximately 55 minutes.