Crisis. Survival kit
by Mihaela Michailov and David Schwartz
About the show
How has the financial crisis of 2009-2012 affected the childhood and adolescence of generations who saw their parents and grandparents overwhelmed by insecurity, unemployment, depression? What intimate and political imprint has the crisis left on their lives? How can we imagine solutions for future crises?
“Crisis. Survival Kit” focuses on the perspective of children and teenagers between the ages of 10 and 17 during the crisis. Children who lived without their parents close by. Parents scattered all over the world, working hard to provide them with a better future. Children who saw their parents saddled with loans, living in debt, in a Romania mired in instability and inequality.
The script was developed during workshops of documentation and exploration of personal histories with the artistic team. The performance is an exercise in fictionalizing the family stories and experiences of the actors and actresses, born in the 1990s. Five different but interconnected stories about five families in crisis.
Creative team
Concept and script by Mihaela Michailov and David Schwartz
Set design: Andrei Dinu
Stage movement: Carmen Coțofană
Music and lyrics: Paul-Ovidiu Cosovanu
Contribution dramaturgy: Anamaria Feraru
Directed by David Schwartz
Cast
Anamaria Codiță, Anamaria Feraru, David Drugaru, Silvana Mihai, Vlad Ionuț Popescu
“If ’90 followed the social and economic shock of the immediate post-revolutionary period, with the individual and family effects of symbolic anti-communist violence, real estate retrocedures, mass layoffs and the first wave of economic emigration, the show now paints the picture of the financial crisis of (in Romania) 2009 and the following years. The reference to the theatrical story of the transition is explicit here and Crisis. Survival kit is, basically, a sequel in which noticing the points of continuity and those of rupture is important – despite the high possibility that the audience will be sensitive differently (from my subjective point of view, this parallelism-comparison with ’90 – one of the most theatrically and socially powerful political and political performances of the independent scene – is also a weakness of the current production).
The crisis… follows – from the perspective of children, involuntary and powerless witnesses to the tribulations of their own families – the decline of budgetary austerity and economic despair, on the canavau of an already installed fierce individualism, of competitiveness in a primitive capitalism, and of an already installed transmission belt to the West of partially qualified and seasonal labor force. ( Iulia Popovici, Weapons, People, Survivors, Observatorul Cultural)
The show “Crisis. Survival Kit illustrates how young people have had to become resourceful and discover solutions to overcome difficult situations. Without parental support, they had to take on greater responsibilities and learn to cope in a world of uncertainty. This ability to find creative solutions and to stand up in the face of adversity becomes a central element of the show.
A remarkable aspect of the show is the way it redefines the identity of young people growing up during the crisis. By exploring the stories of five families, the show reveals how these young people formed their own values and principles in the difficult context of the crisis. With identities full of strength and resilience, these young people have created their own path in life and have become strong and wise adults.( Lucian Dinu, Crisis.Survival Kit, Presa în Blugi)
“Crisis. Survival Kit presents a world of parents – who try extremely hard, at the cost of impressive personal sacrifices, not to lack anything essential and necessary for their children – and a world of the still small / minors, who – of course – do not have to go to bed hungry and who wait for Santa Claus every year (and it is not normal / impossible for him to disappoint them), but who also suffer from the fear of abandonment (the strongest) or of various monsters / of darkness. Children’s immediate needs and desires do not always perfectly overlap with what adults decide for them, and unfortunately this is the source of traumas that are sometimes difficult to heal. Even through art / theater. A permanent contrast between emotion and the necessary distance for reflection runs through this extremely thematically complex performance, with many nuances anchored in our Romanian reality and detectable in the tensions / relationships between characters and in their dialogs – all very well supported by the cast. (Irina Ionescu, Survival / wellbeing, not just material – Crisis. Survival kit , Liternet.ro )