Cold – which has the sub-title: Four fictive stories from Gheorgheni – is a kind of play in which’s four melancholic, comic and mysterious stories people from Gheorgheni can look into a theatrical mirror. For instance, one can learn the history of the local hokey team and hockey rink, all under the street lights. We learn what a meeting in minus 50 Co looks like and can pose the question: is it colder in Gheorgheni or Miercurea Ciuc? The play also speaks of mysterious disappearances, mineral water springs and infinite potato fields. All the while even the blue light harboring the secret of eternal youth rears its head. The production cannot be squeezed into the classical genre categories, but it harbors horror, love, mystery… and a little bit of sci-fi too.

“Cold is a pseudo-documentary play about Gheorgheni. The play’s characters never existed, the events themselves are also fictitious. The only factual reality is that in Gheorgheni is very cold. When the long, freezing winter nights arrive and mist envelopes the town, people remain in their homes and weave stories. This way time goes by faster. This way they can escape to another world. A case could be made that they tell stories because if they do, they do not feel as lonely as they generally are. Cold is about our need to tell and listen to stories.”

Elise Wilk, the play’s author

“There is no town without stories and history. There is no city without love, loneliness or humor and each city has its fair share of crimes as well. One does not simply understand a community from documentaries or the news. Our made-up stories tell volumes about ourselves as well. Not through realistic statistics, but through the mood of the place. Why four fictitious stories about Gheorgheni? Maybe because here even the light flickers differently.

Leta Popescu, the play’s director

The play was made possible due to the generous support of AFCN, the Ministry of Human Resources and the Gábor Bethlen Fund.

Cast: