15th December

Mihaela Dragan

TRAUMA KINK

Director: Gabrijel Sandu

Together with the director Gabriel Sandu, the theater company Giuvlipen brings to you a brave and innovative show about how early and adult traumas define our perception of intimacy and pleasure.

The show takes place at the Romanian Dramatists’ Theater and opens the conversation about trauma in a natural way, through the stories of five artists who open up to the public in a performative approach that combines confessional elements with fiction and the hedonistic imaginary.

“Trauma Kink is the show with which Giuvlipen returns to the stage after two years of a pandemic that marked our lives, mental health and the way we communicate and relate tp each other. In crisis situations, the violence and distance between us, humans, grows and in Trauma Kink we felt the urgency to open a conversation about sexual abuse and consent, about desire and boundaries, and about the thin line that separates the victim from the abuser. About how the patriarchal societies we live in shame us for our desires and pleasures. About who we really are if our traumas and sexuality define us as persons.

As an author I tried to fictionalize the personal experiences of the performers (including my experience, my role as author being doubled as that of actress in this show) in an attempt to understand our traumas and seek healing through art. Ultimately, what role can art play in emergency situations like the one we are currently experiencing other than to soothe us and act as a balm over our wounds, the artists’ and our audience’s?”

                                                                 Mihaela Drăgan, co-founder of Giuvlipen

The script of the show was developed by the artist Mihaela Drăgan and starts from the collective research carried out by the artistic team by participating in dramatic writing workshops, counseling sessions in bodily trauma and kink & sexuality workshops.

Thus was born a performance about trauma and hedonism, beyond the dictionary definitions, but especially about the healing power of vulnerability.

Along with the other productions of the Roma feminist theater company Giuvlipen, the show Trauma Kink amplifies the need for the development of a Roma Theater in Romania by increasing the repertoire and visibility of theater productions made by Roma actors, actresses and playwrights and by addressing themes relevant to the Roma community and society Romanian in general.

Synopsis

How much is kink and how much is trauma in our pleasures? How can we transform the histories of abuse, queerness, sexual consent, gathered over a lifetime into a form of resistance?

Trauma Kink  is a show about how early and adult traumas define our perception of intimacy and pleasure.

The show opens the conversation about trauma in a natural way, through the stories of five artists who open up to the public in a performative approach that combines confessional elements with fiction and the hedonistic imaginary.

A show about trauma and hedonism, beyond dictionary definitions, but mostly about the healing power of vulnerability.

Artistic team

With: Arhanghella, Mihaela Drăgan, Zita Moldovan, Kitty Rhea, Răzvan Rotaru

Text:: Mihaela Drăgan

Regie&scenografie: Gabriel Sandu

Video: Aural Eye

Muzică: Andrei Horjea

Choregraphy: Răzvan Rotaru

Costume: Patricia Suciu

Photo: Amalia Drăniceanu

Musical consultancy: Nicoleta Ghiță