by Thomas Jonigk
Directed by: Szabó K. István
For years, Petra has been ill-treated by her father, Erwin, while her mother, Karin, has been ignoring it. Magda rapes her son, Paul, but nobody hears him screaming for help. The fate shared by two children brings them together in the same place and they try, more or less successfully, to stop their parents' abuses. Considering the ineffability of their actions, several attempts are required before the children finally manage to make them pay for what they've done. Thomas Jonigk wrote in "The Perpetrators" about one of the most discussed themes in recent years, discovering in Petra's and Paul's stories the fact that our society is a society of perpetrators.
"Visually, the show is very well upheld by the décor by Cristina Milea.
Key words such as mother, father, me and a few miniature houses, and a
lot of train tracks are written on a white wall. Train tracks where
young Paul is going to kill himself but which also make you think of the
countless roads of life. In terms of music, Perpetrators benefits from a
remarkable stage music composed by Ovidiu Iloc, a type of music where
the main theme makes you think of the sounds coming out of a boîte à
musique, from childhood times. The maximum strength point of the show is
to be looked for, as it is supposed to, in acting. Szabó K. István
benefitted, in his undertaking, of what we could call, without any
exaggeration, the ideal cast. For the roles of the two abused children
(Petra and Paul) he had as colleagues Silvia Török, very good, nuanced
and without any excesses, and Richard Hladik who, thus, had the chance
of a grand debut. For Erwin, the father grown old in evil, Rareş Hontzu
is a powerful performer, while Olga Török (Karin) is again excellent in a
composition role. Enikö Blenessy (Magda) and Daniela Török (the
Doctor), accompanied by Radu Vulpe (Karl) sign three revealing portraits
of paedophiles who mask their guilty urges with atypical arguments,
hypocrisy, obvious deceptiveness, chocolate considerations."
"Playwright Thomas Jonigk takes a number of situations and real people and builds them into his text, Perpetrators, a family hell where Petra and Paul, the two kid main characters are crushed, their only physical, mental and moral salvation - is running away from home. The show made by Szabó K. István has as opposing points a balanced distribution - well chosen from a group that in its own was formed with care over time – and suggestive set design, functional for the reality of existing situations in the dramaturgy of staging. [...] For several seasons, the German State Theatre Timisoara has been contouring a clear direction for its repertoire for the community it is addressed to; through the proposed performances, viewers are called to reflect on everyday realities, from the recent past or more distant, from the facts of life, into their present."