Versatile Simona Măicănescu is the star of 'The Fever', a compelling one woman show bursting with intelligence, emotion and quirky humour, to be presented as part of our studio theatre programme. Written by famous American actor and playwright Wallace Shawn and directed by the popular Swedish playwright Lars Norén, the show centres upon the experiences of a wealthy New Yorker torn between two opposite realities: her own comfortable, affluent life and the miserable existence of the have-nots she encounters in her travels. A forceful monologue, raising disturbing and urgent questions.
“The Fever is an attempt to state the obvious so that the obvious can finally be seen. In my view, injustice is the root cause of the rage which everyone feels all around them. The injustice is brutal, it’s astounding, and it’s everywhere, and it’s not hidden at all, but it’s still so upsetting that even the most enlightened of us can only glimpse it for moments at a time.” (Wallace Shawn)
The Fever
By Wallace Shawn
A production of Le Nouvel Olympia – CDN de Tours, Théâtre de l’Espace – Scène Nationale de Besançon / Apocryphe Tendance.
With: Simona Măicănescu
Directed by: Lars Norén
Adapted by: Simona Măicănescu, Lars Norén
Light design by: Radu Barbu
Actress Simona Măicănescu performed in Romania under the direction of famous Silviu Purcarete, Lucian Pintilie, Tompa Gabor, and Andrei Serban. After starring in a French-Romanian production presented at the Avignon Festival in 1994, she was invited to perform at Odéon Theatre in Paris, where she worked with André Wilms, Lukas Hemleb, and Jean-François Peyret. She then decided to move to France and continue acting. She has since performed in French, English and Romanian, with credits ranging from Norén’s War and Molière’s Tartuffeto the French TV series Engrenages and films like Dante 01, Stowaways and Splice. The Fever marks Măicănescu’s first one woman show.
The American actor and writer Wallace Shawn excelled on stage, TV and film, garnering international recognition from acting in Woody Allen’s Manhattan, Star Trek, Toy Story, and James Ivory’s The Bostonians and from his brilliant collaborations with director André Gregory, including My Dinner With André, Vanya on 42nd Street, and Grasses of A Thousand Colours. Shawn has pursued a parallel career as a playwright and scriptwriter. His most well-known works are My Dinner With André, Aunt Danand Lemon, The Designated Mourner. Wallace Shawn received his second Off-Broadway Theatre Award for The Fever.
Lars Norén is regarded by many as Sweden’s greatest playwright since Strindberg. His work is widely produced and celebrated throughout Europe. His best-known plays include Autumn and Winter, Blood, War, and Night Is Mother To The Day. Since 1993 he has directed for the theatre, staging plays by Shakespeare, Aeschylus, Ibsen, and Chekhov, as well as his own texts. He succeeded Ingmar Bergman at the head of the National Theater in Stockholm. He later ran Riksteatern, and since 2009 he has been working as the manager of Göteborg’s new theater, Folkteatern. With The Fever, Lars Norén directs for the first time a contemporary piece other than his own.
When: 23 February, 7 pm
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute, 1 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PH
Free entry. Please book your seat here.
