The presentation for the theatre show Why the child is cooking in the polenta. Producer: Edith Alibec Actor: Edith Alibec Director: Dana Paraschiv

1. WHY THE CHILD IS COOKING
IN THE POLENTA
ACTOR
EDITH ALIBEC
DIRECTOR
DANA PARASCHIV
SUPPORT: CULTURAL DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF MUNICH, ROMANIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE VIENNA/LONDON, GOETHE-
INSTITUT BUCHAREST, ROMANIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE LONDON
ONE WOMAN SHOW
based on Aglaja Veteranyi's book
WINNER

2. Add a little bit of body
text
“Edith Alibec shows an
astonishing agility in her
performance of the Polenta
book.
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."
JENS NIELSEN
partner of Aglaja Veteranyi in the theatre
group "Die Engelmaschine" (The
Angel Factory; Zürich, Switzerland) for 8
years and literary executor of her work

3. For: the authenticity and freshness of the
theatrical act, for the acting artistry and
the finesse of the scenic interpretation,
which combines intelligently, intelligibly
and sensibly the ludic and the dramatic...
TV Reportage: http://bit.ly/2HzApwB
""It was like being thrown into the the world of
Fellini's movies..."
Review: http://bit.ly/ReviewValManescu
[...] Edith Alibec is a funny little creature who plays with our souls
using her body, voice and heart with an exuberant simplicity,
cuteness and emotional mobility. A text played by a smart little girl
who keeps the audience in a state of beatitude any actor would
desire.
Each second is an unpredictable surprise in itself through the variety
of expression means of the artist, from pantomime to the play with
her inexhaustible vocal nuances, song, silence, movement.
It seems that we can still hear the audience’s thoughts: “If only it
would never stop!”
Review: http://bit.ly/ReviewCarmenMihalache
A true revelation! I knew the text and I found its vulnerability in the extraordinary
recital "Whyt he child is cooking in the polenta" in which the very young actress
Edith Alibec made a demonstration of acting that deserves all the applause. Her
game is characterized by a strong naturalness, but artistic at the same time,
carefully filtered, through imagination, inventiveness and a lot of warmth.
You follow her seduced by the power and grace by which she is animating simple
objects, a scarf, a tuxedo, as characters with whom she has a relationship,
suggesting an atmosphere and reviving memories. Edith Alibec is versatile, sincere,
easily and credibly embodying the little girl who, living away from her country, is
painfully tried by the sense of uprooting. In this enchanting character of candor and
sensitivity of "écorché vif", the actress simply brightened us by convincing us that
she has a special kind of talent.
JURY's MOTIVATION
COCA BLOOS, LIVIU DOSPINESCU, NINA MAZURA
BACĂU FEST TROPHY
ACTORS FOR ACTOR TROPHY
ONORIFIC PRIZE ȘTEFAN IORDACHE
Bacău Fest Monodrame 2018, Romania
Winner of all 3 prizes
I love you can be said in many ways. Edith Alibec said it in her own way.

4. Producer: Edith Alibec
Director: Dana Paraschiv
Actor: Edith Alibec
Dramatization: Dana Paraschiv, Edith
Alibec
IN SHORT
English
German
Romanian
Subtitles
English, German, Romanian, French, Spanish,
Hungarian, Slowakian
Support
Kulturreferat München
Romanian Cultural Institute Vienna
Goethe-Institut
Kulturreferat Passau
Romanian Cultural Institute London
Theatre show after Aglaja Veteranyi's book
"Why the child is cooking in the polenta"
The show can be staged in
Zürich - Switzerland (German) - Cabaret Voltaire
London - UK (English)
New York - USA (English)
München - Germany (German)
Passau - Germany (German)
Bucharest - Romania (Romanian, German)
Shows staged in
Halls
Festivals
Cabaret Voltaire (Zürich)
Pasinger Fabrik (München)
Odeon Theatre (Bucharest)
Redoute Theatre (Passau)
Bacau Fest Monodrame 2018
Marathon of Independent Theatre
Bucharest 2017
Days and Nights Festival Braila 2017
Tragos Festival Tulcea 2017
United Solo Festival New York 2017
JURY

5. 'When the actress started talking she could render a sensitivity which
reminded me of Aglaja Veteranyi.
Later on, as the action amplified and the dramatism increased, I felt that the
way this little girl performed Aglaja’s role was so real, that I could hardly
believe she was a professional actress. In my inner self she was taken for
Aglaja more and more, which meant that she really loved Aglaja and in that
moment she could feel her due to the love she bore for her. As this is when
you, as an actor, are able to melt with the character - when you really love it.'
NORA IUGA, TRANSLATOR
LIANA CETERCHI, DIRECTOR
Link VIDEO NORA IUGA:
http://bit.ly/NoraIuga
'The young actress, Edith Alibec, is able to express on her own the
wide variety of situations and characters with just one look, one
intonation or minimal gestures. I have admired her movement
plasticity, the internal fire and most of all the flame of the talent
which flickered in her eyes throughout the show. She certainly is a
talent in full swing and her courage, tenacity and passion are the
engines which push her forward. She has all my appreciation.'

6. I watched fascinated the show presented at Cabaret Voltaire.
The actress has gone deep into the sublayers of the text,
which she played with a lot of energy, verve and easiness.
The contact with the audience was made immediately and
continued with the same intensity throughout the piece. Edith
Alibec seems to play with a sincere joy that is transmitted
instantly to the spectators.
WHAT THE AUDIENCE SAYS
Alina Mondini, spectator in Zürich
Edith Alibec - it’s simple, it’s a joy to see her play.
Alexandra Florea, spectator in Zürich
I had no idea what to expect from this play, and
was delighted by every moment of it. Edith
Alibec is a performer with tremendous range and
emotional depth. Her story of a woman growing
up unprepared for the world by her parents and
community was profoundly compelling, and
elicited the deepest sympathy and engagement.
Penn Genthner, Director of Institutional Advancement at the
Vineyard Theatre, New York
Me and my friends saw this yesterday at the Romanian Cultural
Institute in London and boy what a treat this was!! Brilliantly
orchestrated in a creative, minimalist style, with cleverly chosen
music, lighting, props and wardrobe, The show will linger with you
long after the closing line. Edith is a fantastic actor, you will be
hypnotised by her raw performance as she will play with your
emotions like a skillful puppeteer. In the end, through the
bittersweet aftertaste of the experience, you will want to read
Aglaja again. I can’t wait to see the play staged in London as I feel it
deserves a much greater audience.
Sorana Sima, spectator in London
I saw an interesting, original performance, with a
wonderful actress, whom we will surely hear about.
Olivia Carabella, spectator in Munich
The actress succeeds arrestingly to depict the
different phases and experiences of life, the multiple
wishes and fears, the laugh, the pleasure, the
suffering, and the pride of a young human being,
whom over and over again is reminded she is exotic,
she doesn’t belong there. One does not only watch
magnetized – one becomes also thoughtful…
Edith Alibec is an extraordinary acting phenomenon, her acting has
great intensity, wit and drama. Edith Alibec touches everyone
through the impudence of her representation. And I was moved to
tears in the final scene.
Exactly this combination between the social actuality of the
theme with the personal biography of the actress makes her
theatre project fascinating, striking and comprehensible.
With seriousness, which is blended over and over again with
humour, she knows how to bring the material to life and to
fascinate the spectator, who, like her, appears either
thoughtful or laughing. And so her work is about only one
thing: the reality between homeland and foreign land,
equally enigmatic and frightening. For the spectator there is
then the migration subject theatrically haunting, moving and
yet entertaining brought close to him/her. Exactly this
mixture is what our society needs and what brings the
spectator to the theatre.
Ilse Lauer, theatre academic in Munich
Sina Hübner, Cultural PR in Munich
Andrea Siering, Swiss filmmaker

7. FINANCING SUPPORT
”I am convinced that the decision to present Edith Alibec's monologue at
Cabaret Voltaire in Zürich, Switzerland, was very inspired. The strength and the
innocence of Aglaja Veteranyi have found place in the scenic universe furnished
with a lot of talent. A full house laughed and wept bitterly in front of this
endearing and unique story..”
IRINA CORNIȘTEANU, Director Romanian Cultural Institute Vienna
”Going through the different staged elements, Miss Alibec succeeded a very
interesting and expressive theatrical form of the migration theme. The project can
be highly recommended for further representations.”
”A disturbing text about a tortured life until it becomes unbearable, interpreted
with volcanic pathos and psychological finesse by Edith Alibec, a young and very
talented actress.”
CHRISTOPH SCHWARZ, Kulturreferat München
DORIAN BRANEA, Director Romanian Cultural Institute London
"The one-woman show “Why the is child cooking in the polenta?” is as simply
built as it is psychologically intrusive by means of its metaphors and depth.
The anxiety experienced by the character, the ingenuity or the contradiction she
faces almost unpredictably, makes you laugh and cry at the same time. The
currentness of the questions related to “home”, the feeling of being a foreigner,
of integrating or, on the contrary, the inability to “be at home”, and the
continuous search for identity, come out sharply and painfully disguised in the
innocent- eccentric performance and deeply emotional interpretation of the
actress."
LAVINIA CAZACU, Project Manager Goethe-Institut Bucharest

8. HOW
WE STARTED
Born and raised in Romania, Edith Alibec lived in Germany for three years,
where she attended acting and film directing classes at Athanor Akademie,
under the guidance of Professor David Esrig. Having experienced life as a
foreigner and, moreover, having seen on-site the refugee crisis burst out in
Germany, she strongly felt the urge to speak about the absence of a place
called home. She had already known Aglaja Veteranyi’s novel, but it got a
totally different weight the moment when she herself lived abroad just like the
novel’s heroine.
After two months of research, interviews with social counselors assisting
refugees, and even with young refugees (from Syria, Afghanistan), Edith Alibec
created a concept and submitted it to the Cultural Department in Munich,
Germany, which accepted to provide the funding for staging the theatre play.
Dana Paraschiv, as director, joined the project, and, for one month and a half, in
February 2016, lived in Germany, where together with Edith Alibec as an
actress, shaped the one-woman show in German, which had its opening night
at MUCCA on March 9, 2016, at the Balkan Days Festival in Munich.

9. WHERE WE
ARE NOW
Since then, the show has been staged in different cities in
Germany, Switzerland, UK, Romania, USA with mixed audiences,
of both natives and foreign nationals (Romanians, refugees etc.),
whom the show directly addresses.
The show was also positively reviewed by Nora Iuga - translator
of Aglaja Veteranyi's texts, Jens Nielsen - Aglaja Veteranyi's
partner in the theatre group "The Angel Factory", Lucian Sabados,
Director Maria Filotti Theatre Braila, Angela Ellinger - publishing
rights for the book Random House Munich Publishing, Christian
Haller - Swiss writer, Christoph Schwarz - Kulturreferat Munich,
Catalin Dorian Florescu - Swiss writer, Irina Cornisteanu - Director
Romanian Cultural Institute Vienna and others.
The show has been part of numerous festivals and supported by
various prestigious institutions: Goethe Institute Bucharest, The
Romanian Cultural Institute Vienna/London or Kulturreferat
Munich. The announced shows for 2018 will be in Stockholm
and Brussels and other dates are expected to be confirmed.

10. “A show as it should be: dense, poetic, very
visual. No word is too much, not a minute
too long.“
CĂTĂLIN DORIAN FLORESCU, WRITER

11. SHOWS
Zürich
Cabaret Voltaire
6 November 2016
Supported by
Romanian Cultural Institute
Vienna
München
MUCCA
9,10 March 2016
"Balkan Days" Festival
Pasinger Fabrik
10 May 2016
Supported by
Kultureferat München
Passau
Redoute Theatre Passau
15 April 2016
Supported by
Kultureferat Passau
Bucharest
Odeon Theatre*
10 May 2017
Godot Theater
10 March, 8 April, 2 June 2017
Teatrelli
27 June, 23 July 2017
*Supported by
Goethe-Institut Bucharest

12. SHOWS
Brăila
Maria Filotti Theatre
Days and Nights Festival
22 September 2017
Opinion of the show by Lucian
Sabados, director Maria Filotti
Theatre
http://bit.ly/LucianSabados
Tulcea
Jean Bart Theatre
Targos Festival
6 October 2017
Bucharest
Green Hours
MTI - Marathon of Independent
Theatre
1 October 2017
Constanța
FITIC- International Independent
Theatre Festival
3 September 2017
London
RCI Cultural Space
12 October 2017
Supported by
Romanian Cultural Institute
London
New York
Theatre Row
United Solo Festival
1 November 2017
Supported by a Indiegogo
crowdfunding campaign
http://bit.ly/EdithUnitedSoloNY

13. UPCOMING
SHOWS
Brașov
Creart Festival
July 2018
Stockholm
May 2018, date tbc
Supported by
Romanian Cultural
Institute Stockholm
Brussels
2018, date tbc
Supported by Romanian Cutural
Institute Brussels

14. “Wonderful poetry, lightness and at the same time
depth, without providing any answers; You do not
want to let her go in the end, this lonely girl...”
Svenja Herrmann, lyricist
"Thanks to the simple production, she fills the space
with her nuanced acting, her strength and her charm,
and allows the text to flourish in its wealth of
emotional worlds."
Christian Haller, writer
“Poetically staged with a brilliant, transformative
actress.”
Sonja Caruso, teacher

15. THE BOOK
approaches the foreigner’s identity problem in an era
in which very many are everywhere at home, and, at
the same time, nowhere really;
is a prose poem, or a Bildungsroman, in 4 parts,
aiming at the deconstruction of illusions;
was written by Aglaja Veteranyi, she herself a
child who fled Romania together with her
family in 1968, when she was 6, and grew up
in a circus; thus the book lies at the border
between reality and fiction. “My imagination
itself is an autobiography” Aglaja Veteranyi;
is the story of a Romanian family of artists, who is
always on the road, foreign but still at home in the
foreignness. The story is told from the perspective of
the youngest child. She is a growing up girl, sure of
herself and in the same time anxiously enquiring –
and remaining without an answer. The child lives in
two worlds: the colorful, transfigured circus world,
but also the harsh reality of a life always on the road.
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.

16. THE SHOW
follows the book’s structure, being divided in four parts:
1. life on the road alongside her family with the circus and the caravans
2. the abandon and her contact with the school strictness in Switzerland
3. her parents’ break up, her mother’s accident and her job at Variete
4. her return to Switzerland and her desire for integration;
lasts about 1 hour and 10 minutes;
can be played in English, German and Romanian.
the scenography is simple, being designed such as to be
played in any type of place;
stage props/properties will be brought exclusively by us
(costumes, a small wooden stool, other elements). We only
need a black front/apron that serves as backstage.
Structure
Technical aspects
necessary equipment: 9 stage lights and an audio system;

17. Who could bring to the stage the novel
"Why the child is cooking in the polenta"
by Aglaja Veteranyi better than a
Romanian actress who has lived in
Germany for three years and
experienced migration the hard way?
Edith Alibec knows how to make visible
the sound, the worries, and the
desperation felt in the reading between
the lines, and still manages to maintain
the lightness and the humor of the text.
It is amazing how you can depict a
whole world with all its facets with
only one actress, few props and a
simple set-up, and make it credible to
the viewer.
I wish Edith Alibec to be a guest in many
cities and countries with her
implementation and can thus carry a
piece of interculturalism.
ANGELLA ELLINGER
License department Random House Publishing
Munich

18. WHO WE ARE
DANA PARASCHIVEDITH ALIBEC
Actress / Producer Director
t
Bucharest, ‘89, graphic art at N.
Tonitza High School, Drama Faculty-
Acting, Dan Puric troupe, and now
theatre directing.
Constanta, ’89, first the
University of Economics Bucharest,
then acting, Athanor Akademie in
Germany, studies with David Esrig,
actress, independent producer of a
theatre play and short films in
Germany.

19. DANA PARASCHIVEDITH ALIBEC
"I am very happy that I met Edith. I was
impressed by the show and the
professionalism she demonstrated. The
unexpected technical incident convinced
me once more of that. She proved an
enormous self-control in the way she
revived the story line, divinely, absolutely
impressive!
I am sure she will have a brilliant career,
one can see she is very fond of what she is
doing and she has a natural talent. I was
fascinated by her confidence, the well
balanced humour in intonation and
gestures, and also by the strength with
which she flawlessly controlled the
increasing intensity in the dramatism of
the character’s life. Each and every
moment she kept me close to her little
heroine’s experiences, with whom she
identified herself with every breath,
motion and quiet little thrill."
OANA CUZINO
TV show presenter "What's going on,
doctor?" at ProTV, Romania's leading
cable network

20. CONTACT
Edith Alibec
edith.alibec@gmail.com
0040 721137606
TRAILER
www.bit.ly/warumdaskind
FACEBOOK
http://bit.ly/cookinginthepolenta