SEGA: "HAIRPIN BENDS" WITH THE FUNFAIR TRAIN OF FRENCH COMEDY
The actors Dimitar Zhivkov and Stefani Ivaylo shine in a play by Éric Assous.
A charming ageing man brings to his elegant „bachelor“ apartment a fun young girl he has met at the bar, while his wife and son are on a ski holiday. What could happen between him and her? Nothing but the most banal; many things; everything?... The possible answers are „handed“ to us one by one, and quickly afterwards refuted, by the French romantic comedy (or rather comedy-drama) „Hairpin Bends“ by one of the most-performed contemporary European playwrights from the land of Molière – Éric Assous. If Assous’s „Funfair Train“ (which is the play’s original title) took just a li-i-ittle more surprising turns in its plot moves, the work could rise to the level of Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s breathtaking „Enigma Variations“. But even so, it keeps the viewer in a state of curiosity until the very finale, charming them with the wit-sparkling dialogue and the amplitudes of mood – sincere laughter and being moved to tears.
The performance „Hairpin Bends“ is a production of the "Ivan Radoev" Drama and Puppet Theatre – Pleven, and its Sofia address is the City Mark Art Center, where the capital premiere took place at the start of the month. The director is the heart-knower Georgi Mihalkov („Love Letters“, „The Man from Earth“, „Same Time Next Year“, „The Sling“ are just a few of his remarkable productions over the years), and the two characters are embodied by the excellent Dimitar Zhivkov and Stefani Ivaylo.
In 2005 this play brought Alain Delon himself back to a Paris stage; at 68, for the first time, he had a role in a theatrical comedy. Who knows, for him it may have been enough simply to play himself – a gentleman of noble appearance and bearing whom young girls adore; of Dimitar Zhivkov-Zhivaka, however, more stage skill is required – above all, he is not in that age category. But our actor copes brilliantly with the challenges – both with the role and with our notions of Alain Delon in our heads. His Pierre is ironic, distanced – just enough, and humanly warm – when he needs to be. As for the rest – a little powder on the hair does the job. Despite the initial expectations of a predatory man, gradually a true aristocrat at heart is revealed before us, for whom nobility and honour do not seem to be concepts devoid of meaning.
As for the young Stefani Ivaylo – her performance deserves nothing less than superlatives. With the transformations of her heroine she in fact has to play several roles, several completely different girls. Who actually is Juliette? A frivolous „bimbo“ who enjoys the company of a rich and influential businessman? A high-paid prostitute? A reporter taking on yet another risky journalistic investigation? A seeker of new exciting sensations?... In each of these female versions the actress is not only naturally captivating, but also convincing as a cultivated professional, and she announces herself as one of the most gifted of her generation. Along the „bends“ of the gradually unfolding relationship between the characters, a truly intriguing partnership is born between two talented artists.
The design of the performance is by Zhaneta Ivanova, and the author of the music is Deyan Balev. The next performances of „Hairpin Bends“ at the City Mark Art Center are on 16 November, 5 and 27 December.
SEGA: „Hairpin Bends“ with the funfair train of French comedy, Author: Irina Gigova