8 FATHERS

by Tina MÜLLER
Translation: Ciprian Marinescu
Directed by: Irisz Kovacs
Set design: Theodor Niculae

Premiera: 15 August 2021

Duration: 1h 30min, no intermission

Cast
Tours
Awards
Photo Gallery
Reviews

A teenage girl grows up without a father. Nico goes again and again to the door of the man who fathered her, but never rings - in the meantime her mother remarries, divorces again, gives birth to another girl; Nico becomes more rebellious, joins a gang of thugs, leaves for America, reads Hermann Hesse, reconciles with her mother, secretly listens to Johnny Cash, grows up. But the doorbell remains untouched.

Adolescence, with its traumas, described playfully, with a sense of humour. A story about the painful loneliness of maturing, about what a family means and the trauma legacy from our parents.

Cast

Tours

Awards

Photo Gallery

Reviews

Ileana Lucaciu: "Irisz Kovacs and Theodor Niculae offer inspiration to the text of an original theatrical image of great finesse for supporting the thematic substrate. The decor of Theodor Niculae is sensational, placing on the stage several small white houses with windows in which the shadows of those who appear at key moments I live. These visual accents are excellent. the background the setting is symbolically dominated by a white door with steps in front, place in which Nico always returns with the desire to find out her father, the desired family genetic. This decor completed by the discreet colors of costumes, gives theatrical life to the major meanings in the text. director makes admirable use of the setting offer, the characters invoked by Nico's story, I leave the boxes to improvise typologies various evoked. The actors always transform themselves into these characters to show their typological essence, and they each do it admirably. They they get to sing appreciably in some improvisations dictated by the fact that Nico is a fan of a star. The collaboration of director and scenographer, is perfect resulting in a visually captivating show, and those two young people deserve awards for their debut in theatrical life. Director, department in which a crisis was felt, here it is receiving one new force by Irisz Kovacs. The actors join this directorial vision with all their heart and faith in what they will offer emotionally to the audience. They all pencil beautifully the characters that return to them through immediate transformations, without exaggeration, only through defining expressions. Nico's interpretation by Ecaterina Lupu is remarkable for the way the actress emphasizes the substratum of each evoked situation, its role being central in the performance. For her part, Cristiana Luca achieves nuanced another important character for evocations, that of the mother. The two actresses alongside their generation colleagues - Florin Aioane, Andrei Bibire, Theodor Șoptelea demonstrates a penetrating analysis of every word spoken and a complex talent."

Ileana Lucaciu

http://ileanalucaciu.blogspot.com/2022/02/8-tati-teatrul-de-stat- constanta.html

Claudiu Groza: "In my opinion, the best calibrated of all the steps (directing/acting/scenography) was 8 dads by Tina Müller, directed by Irisz Kovacs (Constanța State Theatre), which I have seen at the headquarters at the end of August. The touching confession of a teenage girls faced with the psycho-existential tribulations of their mother his and the father's absence was transposed into a simple show, warm, somehow sunny despite the subject. Irisz Kovacs built her with mounting maturity, without pathos and not too cerebral, having alongside an already formidable team of young actors (Ecaterina Lupu, Cristiana Luca, Theodor Șoptelea, Andrei Bibire and Florin Aioane) and an inspired scenographer (Theodor Niculae), whose scenic space a was suggestive, visually arresting and useful, albeit minimalistic. I think the balance of the construction is also the asset of the show. By the way, this one the directorial imprint was also seen in the fragment from the collective creation, for which Irisz Kovacs was awarded at DbutanT.”

Claudiu Groza

http://tribuna-magazine.com/dbutant-6-0-dramaturgi-si-regizori/

Radu Nica, director: "Does a stepfather cease to be a father when the mother separates from him? Is the biological father still a father as long as the child knows nothing about him? And, in this situation, can the child choose the father they think is suitable? These are just some of the serious, relevant questions, which, for advocates of the traditional family dynamic, may be hard to conceive, that Tina Müller's play raises in a text of overwhelming contemporary relevance. Irisz Kovacs, along with the excellent team of the Constanța theater, answers these questions with a playful spirit—both disconcerting and, at the same time, just and effective in enhancing the serious theme of the play. The issue of identity for Generation Z, with the specific dramas caused by what sociologists call the 'patchwork family,' is admirably captured in this captivating performance, where the paradoxical coexistence of laughter and tears is portrayed with disarming tenderness and honesty. A performance with a fresh, unique, and impactful aesthetic, brilliantly performed by all the artists involved, showcasing the remarkable debut of director Irisz Kovacs in Romanian theater." – Radu Nica is the coordinator of director Irisz Kovacs's undergraduate degree.

Radu Nica

Colour is added by a group of three young men who look like fairies surrounding a child. Theodor Șoptelea, Andrei Bibire and Florin Aioane play without a break, singing and transposing the story of the little girl in a ballad-like manner. A little girl growing up and facing the sharp edges of adult life. The team is harmonious; the five of them enter and leave small houses as the story unfolds, forming playful and musical relationships, the pretext being Johnny Cash's imprint on the unseen father. Andrei Bibire and Theodor Șoptelea take on the musical part more prominently, while Florin Aioane delivers a true demonstration of expressiveness for the various roles of the characters illustrated in their sketches.

Marius DOBRIN/SpectActor

In an excellent dynamic, the play 8 Fathers tells the story of a child who doesn't know his father. But from a single story, other similar stories emerge, at an impressive pace, about a whole generation of young people who cannot define their identity. They don't know who they are. They have a family in which they feel like strangers. They've lost their parents and are fighting to get them back. The symmetry of the situations, the synchronised movement, the lines spoken by Nico alongside Rosa, all create a collective character - youth. Youth, with its ideals and its failures, plays the guitar on stage, in front of an audience that, through its joyful reactions, reveals its pleasure in watching the energetic performance of the wonderful actors from the Constanța State Theatre. At the end, the company had the same energy as at the beginning, as if they could start a new performance at any time. (...) I particularly enjoyed the final moments of the play, when the lights went out without the darkness on the stage fully settling in. It was as if stars had risen above the miniature neighborhood, faintly illuminating the houses that had emerged from a beautiful and authentic story, without a trace of Barbie Land. And my grandfather's words echoed in my mind: "Better times will come, that's the rule of nature!"

Mihaela Nicolae

https://www.teatrulgeorgeciprian.ro/mihaela-nicolae-8-tati-familia-nu-e-o-inventie/