Ingmar Bergman

Cries and Whispers

Stage version by Andrei Șerban and Daniela Dima

Studio
RO
EN
18+
2h 10' without intermission

Maria
Imola Kézdi
 
Agnes
Anikó Pethő
 
Karin
Emőke Kató
 
Anna
Csilla Varga
 
Bergman
Zsolt Bogdán
 
Bergman's assistant
Csilla Albert

directed by
Andrei Şerban
 
set and costume design
Carmencita Brojboiu
 
dramaturg
Kinga Kovács
 
director's assistant
István Albu
 
dramaturg's assistant
Eszter Biró
 
light design
Sándor Maier, Andrei Şerban
 
lights
Romeo Groza, Mihály Fábián
 
sound design
Zsolt Kerekes, Rezső Nagy
 
stage manager
Yvonne Nagy
Date of the opening: january 24, 2010
By arrangement with Josef Weinberger Limited, London, on behalf of the Ingmar Bergman Foundation (www.ingmarbergman.se).


 

I like to lay impossible bets with myself. To stage Cries and Whispers, one of the most staggering movies in the history of cinema is a challenge I take without knowing where it leads, without knowing if it is possible to recreate on stage that unsurpassable experience the movie provides. Bergman says: "Sometimes it is a special happiness to be a movie director. Suddenly, a never-before-seen facial gesture is born and the camera records it. That's exactly what happened today. The camera recorded this moment. Pain surfaced for a second, and the camera caught it. On such occasions, I feel that my work wasn't futile. Maybe I live for these passing moments. Like a pearl-diver."
Are we capable of recreating these short moments of truth on the stage also? Bergman rehearsed with his actresses before shooting. We are trying to investigate how this project began. To imagine how the fiction of the movies became reality, to penetrate the mystery of creation of one of the greatest directors and of four exceptional actresses.
Four women constitute the kernel of the story: Agnes, who is dying, her sisters, Karin and Maria, who come to be with her, and Anna, the maid. The whispers and cries of the title are theirs.
Andrei Şerban