The Polenta Situation: Edith Alibec Shines in Striking Coming of Age One-Woman Show

We are proud to present, as part of our popular series “The Romanian American Studio Theater”, the painfully truthful coming-of-age monologue ”Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta” in the haunting delivery of actress Edith Alibec. The show will also be included in the Howland Cultural Center’s international program.

Based on the autobiographical work of Romanian-Swiss author and performer Aglaja Veteranyi who committed suicide at 40 shortly after her international literary breakthrough, the show follows, with dark humor, the depression-prone young woman from her dysfunctional youth in a family of circus acrobats all the way to her redemptive first steps as independent artist.

A nomadic family of circus performers, refugees from communist Romania, travels through Europe and Africa by caravan. The mother’s death-defying act causes constant anxiety for her two daughters, who voice their fears through a grisly communal fairy tale about a child being cooked alive in polenta—but their real life is no less of a dark fable, and one that seems just as unlikely to have a happy ending.

WHY THE CHILD IS COOKING IN THE POLENTA

By Aglaja Veteranyi 

Adapted for the stage by: Dana Paraschiv and Edith Alibec 

Language: English

Directed by: Dana Paraschiv 

With: Edith Alibec

Winner of the 2018 Bacău Fest Trophy, Actors for Actor Trophy and the Ştefan Iordache Onorific Prize in Romania

"Edith Alibec's performance is beyond revelatory" - The Upcoming

"Alibec put on a formidable performance." - The Strand Magazine

The first show takes place at the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York on February 27 at 7 PM and the second one at Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY on February 28 at 8 PM. You can find out more about the Howland Cultural Center event here.