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Gypsy Wheel

Cekova Natalia | Gypsy Wheel | Bulgaria | 2017 | the_30015

Licensed by: Nataliya Tsekova | Licensed under: Rights of Use | provided by: Nataliya Tsekova (Sofia/Bulgaria)

Cekova Natalia | Gypsy Wheel | Bulgaria | 2017 | the_30015 Licensed by: Nataliya Tsekova | Licensed under: Rights of Use | provided by: Nataliya Tsekova (Sofia/Bulgaria)

Credits

Licensed by: Nataliya Tsekova | Licensed under: Rights of Use | provided by: Nataliya Tsekova (Sofia/Bulgaria)

Synopsis

This is a monodrama specially written for Natalija Cekova by dramatist Zdrava Kamenova and co-authored and directed by Kalin Angelov. It is a combination of music and drama, about a woman who completely rationally wants to remove all her Roma origins from herself. She does so to be accepted by the man she has fallen in love with, someone not of her ethnicity – a Bulgarian. She systematically erases her identity and reshapes herself to become the object of his desire; to be a woman worthy of his concepts of worth, yet foreign to hers. She is prepared to sacrifice herself for his love.

As the monologue unfolds, she reminisces about the proverbial white elephant, transformed into an Indian circus act, which eventually dies of homesickness but becomes her current home and a ghost which peeks out behind her and her sister as they walk the streets. The elephant follows the entire family throughout their lives, but as their skin fades in later generations, so does the elephant. She remembers the witchdoctor hired to remove the elephant from her shadows and memory, and her sister’s woes, predicted by a fortune-teller.

As she recalls of her memories, her elephant, her wishes to be the negative slide of her current face and hair, she sheds her colorful garb to reveal her pure white wedding dress. Each memory reduces a layer of colour, but adds a layer of identity. Finally, she realizes that her blackness, her elephant, her barefoot memories shine brighter than her white dress.

Anđelija Tanasijević (2018-01-04)

Details

Country
Production
circa 2017
Production Credits
Object Number
the_30015

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Associated Terms & People

Ciganski Kolela