Mountain Language
The one-act play is set in an unnamed country and consists of four short prison scenes.
In the first scene, a group of female visitors wait outside all day to see their imprisoned husbands, tormented by guard dogs and insulted by the army. Then we go inside for a more intimate look at the inhumane regime: the ban on the prisoners’ native language; a young woman seeing her abused husband; streams of devastating insults; the last glimpse of an old woman who, finally allowed to speak the forbidden language, has nothing to say.
“Mountain Language” is a cry of indignation, intended to point out for the umpteenth time, and probably in vain, that it is horribly easy for people to start treating each other like an alien species.
“Mountain Language effortlessly sums up the world….
If wanting, having, using, or abusing power over others is the essence of politics,
then Pinter has been writing political plays from day one. No one but him could have written this one-act play… This is a harsh, cruel, masterful play, painful but compassionate.”
John Peter, The Sunday Times (London)
One for the Road
One For The Road takes place in an unspecified room in a house in an unspecified, but certainly supposedly civilized country, over the course of a single day.
It follows the interrogation of a seemingly ordinary family who have broken the rules of the totalitarian regime under which they live, although their transgressions are never specified.
Nicholas, the man interrogating the family, is not a Gestapo-like criminal but a man of intelligence, education, and faith, a man who seems to believe that every action he takes against enemies of the state is in the interest of everyone.
The play, inspired by a conversation Pinter had with two young Turkish women who refused to acknowledge that torture of political prisoners had ever taken place, is a powerful statement about the violation of human rights by such governments.
Identity in Mountain Language / One for the Road
When people are not allowed to speak their own language, you destroy part of their identity. You can only express your deepest feelings in your mother tongue.
In Mountain Language, the ban on speaking your own language represents the deprivation of identity, of cultural roots. The justification for what the soldiers do may be absurd, but those in power determine what is true.
In One For The Road, family members are asked to speak out about what they have done; but how can they do that when every word has to be weighed carefully? Knowing that you are at risk when you express your opinion is something we have been familiar with since the polarizing developments in our society. But who are you when a government decides who you can be and what you can do?
It doesn’t take much effort to see similarities with the most recent developments in the world. ITCE creates performances about current topics: these two one-act plays touch on themes that are in the news every day and therefore cannot be ignored.
We wonder where our society stands on the line between democracy and dictatorship in the near future…
The post-performance discussions for this show are organized in collaboration with Amnesty International and a former client of Vluchtelingen In De Knel (VidK) who now has a permit. VidK is committed to the basic rights and interests of people without residence status
NOT YOUR AVERAGE PERFORMANCES
ITCE aims to offer an immersive experience, giving the audience a sense as of being present in the reality of the one-act plays,to be witness of what is happening. We will therefore be performing on an almost empty floor of the Veemgebouw.
The audience will stand at Mountain Language, just like the waiting family members at the prison gate, and then move to the locations where other scenes take place.
Finally, they will be allowed to sit down to be present at the interrogations in One For The Road.
Actors
Çağla Gürsoy, Conor O’brien, Fateme Mohseninejad, Marisa Caldeira, Nurudeen Ismail, Sankalp Jain, Anne Peters, Barbaros Bensoy, Sofia Occhini, Zuriñe Alacrue Alonso
Adam Broniewski, Bart van de Goor, Beata Schrier, Vera Harthoorn
Performances
| October 29 | try-out* | 8:00 p.m. |
| October 30 | première | 8:00 p.m. |
| October 31 | 8:00 p.m. | |
| November 1 | EXTRA post-performance discusion. Sign up for free participation info@itceindhoven.com | 8:00 p.m. |
| November 2 | 2:30 p.m. | |
| November 2 | 8:00 p.m. |
* Please note: A try-out is a dress rehearsal. The performance may be paused or restarted for technical reasons. A rare look behind the curtain before the opening night!
Price
Ticketprice €15,00
Ticketprice during try-out € 10,00
Location
Veemgebouw, 6th floor
Entrance at Veemstraat, Eindhoven
Accessibility
Please note that during this performance the audience will be standing for approximately 20 min. The last 30 min the audience will be seated. If you have any trouble standing for a longer period of time, please let us know, so we can accommodate to your needs where possible. We would love to have you at our show, so please do not hesitate to reach out to us to discuss the possibilities! info@itceindhoven.com
Unfortunately, our current venue is not wheelchair accessible. There is an elevator until the fifth floor, followed by six steps to the sixth floor where the performance takes place. We sincerely regret this limitation.
Saturday November 1st the post-performance discussion for this show is organized in collaboration with Amnesty International and a former client of Vluchtelingen In De Knel (VidK) who now has a permit. VidK is committed to the basic rights and interests of people without residence status. If you would like to join this discusion send a mail to info@itceindhoven.com. (Maximum of 30 people).
