One woman strips.
Those present are astonished and come together to form a small orchestra.
They all play on their instruments and on their bodies and thus
find their luck and a warm soup.
Exquisite dances
are performed, boredom has no chance, the Dollar symbol flickers
in the eyes of The Gamblers and the mise en scene shows a Russian
influence.
Press Reviews of 'The Gamblers':
"Eccentricity
out of nowhere....The delectable sequence of scenes with short sketches
and clownesque numbers begins with a witty card game and { passes
on to role play and competition. The refined austerity of the stage
contributes in creating suspense-packed passages between the short
appearances....an abundance of ideas which evolve in a split-second
into easily remembered scenes and images and are unexpectedly carried
to the extreme."
Ursula Pellaton, Zürichsee-Zeitung, Switzerland,
15th May 1999
"...a real gem. The airy actors play in an empty space. Peter
Schelling and Slava Zoubkov carry a board as thin as carton onto
the stage, squeeze it tightly between their bodies, and now cards
are falling upon from hands, sleeves and hats, while under the wall
eccentric figures crawl unnoticed on their bellies into the room.
Everything in the play is of dazzling simplicity.
Lilo Weber, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Switzerland,
15th May 1999
"Card games, duels, musical playing and playful movement: an
exquisite parody is made of everything. The Gamblers is like a comic
strip in which whimsical characters reveal themselves as real human
beings. Truly delightful!
Mirjam Oertli, Tages-Anzeiger, Zurich, Switzerland,
11th December 1999
"...Plays of grown-ups: closely observed and very funnily "translated"
into movement; very accomplished, precise and interpreted with extraordinary
body control and sophistication...."
Eveline
Koberg, Neue Zeit, Graz, Austria, 18th July 2000
"The
Gamblers" and "The Temptation"
An evening
of the DRIFT Company in co-operation with their Russian friends
Budlana Baldanova and Slava Zoubkov.
We came to know
the dancers/actors Slava Zoubkov and Budlana Baldanova during our
stays in St. Petersburg. Slava hails from Siberia and works as a
teacher and actor at the Interstudio in Pushchino, probably the
only avant-garde theatre school in Russia. Budlana is a Buryati
coming from the Baykal Sea of the Mongol Republic and works at the
same school. Both are members of the Interstudio Theatre Group and
full-blooded theatre people. Their approach towards improvisation
and theatre work is characterised by the old Russian theatre tradition
but is at the same time strongly opposed to it. It is very much
different from our Western working methods. But this in particular
makes a co-operation with them especially interesting.
Both, "The
Gamblers" as well as "The Temptation" have been created
by the DRIFT Company in the framework of their "Petit Four"
production. Since 1966 DRIFT has produced a number of pieces within
a very short preparation time. ("The Gamblers", for instance,
came into being in 18 days of rehearsing, the "Temptation"
in 4 weeks).
This rather
short time for rehearsals necessitates a very concentrated co-operation
of all participants. Lack of time requires that artistic decisions
be taken spontaneously and intuitively. Ideas that cannot be tried
out for a "large" tour production are given a chance.
Since often and even in the same room at the same time the concept
and choreography are created, the music composed, the stage setting
designed and built and the lighting and costumes are designed, the
product is created by interactive synergy.
Given such a
short period for rehearsals, the risk of jeopardising the whole
project because time is lacking and pressure becoming too important,
engenders in us a kind of pleasurable fear, which we find very stimulating.
We develop a close relationship with those spectators who know and
understand our production processes.
"The Gamblers"
- one of the productions of the evening - had its opening night
in May 1999 at the "Red Factory" in Zurich.
"The Temptation"
(working title) had its first performances from 10th to 13th May
2000, also in the "Red Factory" in Zurich, followed by
evening performances of both pieces at the Espace Moncor in Fribourg
on 19th and 20th May.
Further performances
are scheduled in Pushchino/St. Petersburg at the KURKART Festival,
at the Roxy Theatre in Basle, at the "La Fourmi" of the
Teatro Dimitri Verscio in Lucerne and at the Summer Festival in
Graz, Austria.
