Obligation
"If Steven Berkoff, Kate Bush and Bjork manifested a visionary spectacle – This would be the result."
Natasha Higdon, FringeReview 2023
part of the "Uncommon Comedy" Festival during the Brighton Fringe, May 8-10 2023
Directed by Lee Delong
Written by Nikolina Majdak and Lee Delong
With Nikolina Majdak as the woman
Music by Lucija Stanojević
The Man in the Suit: Mario Miličić
Light design: Andrija Santro
Art design: Jasmina Dupalo
Photos: Ivan Marenic
Produced by Cirk Pozor
Awards: 15th International Monodrama Festival in Kosovo, Special prize, Nikolina Majdak
Inspired by “The Madwoman of Chaillot,” the visionary drama of Jean Giradoux, OBLIGATION pits a lone woman against massive evil. Our heroine is the embodiment of innocence: fragile, child-like, pure. She battles a wicked force that is relentless without using a single spoken word. Movement is her language and her weapon. Her struggle crecendos as she attempts to stop the darkness that haunts the happy, vibrant world of her own creation. It is a conflict that is transferred from the external plane to the internal - human life.
OBLIGATION is a non-verbal fantasy, which mixes clown, dance, movement, and object manipulation in the manner of new circus. It is an allegory of a real conflict that challenges all human life. The Man in the Suit is all things: he brings objects, puts obstacles in the woman’s path, and can even become a door or a wall. His presence heightens her solitude since she doesn’t see him. He embodies the force against which the woman struggles. Music and sound effects are omnipresent in the piece. The live soundscape is yet another partner for the actor. The music enlarges the actor’s playing space and ignites the public’s imagination. “Obligation” is designed to provoke ideas, entertain, and question today’s world. This whimsical, physical, rapid performance incites an interrogation of what one small person must do to escape the monster of catastrophe.
