“In ten minutes I will deal with my own thoughtfulness.” Actor Mathijs Jansen has a number of scenes from the classic film Minnie & Moscowwitz chosen to share with the audience and his fellow actors. He himself is always well-considered in life, he explains to us, and that is precisely why the role of Seymour Moskowitz appeals to him: the impulsive and reckless way in which he woos Minnie Moore is miles away from him.
The relationship between art and reality is central in every possible way John & Gena, the new performance by theater collective Wunderbaum. On a soberly designed stage, in which a white stage floor curls up towards the sky, suggesting a film screen, Mathijs Jansen and Wine Dierickx in their forties and Bert Luppes and Elsie de Brauw in their sixties reenact various scenes from the work of filmmaker John Cassavetes (1929- 1989) and actress Gena Rowlands (1930). The actors seamlessly blend dialogues from the films, anecdotes from the lives of the filmmakers and reflections on their own lives.
Also read this report about the rehearsals: Lost in the marriage of Hollywood couple ‘John and Gena’. ‘It is tradition that actresses are beaten’
Intimacy
The atmosphere thus created is one of great intimacy and generosity. The actors carefully embody the characters Opening night (1977), A woman under the influence (1974), Minnie & Moscowwitz (1971) and Love streams (1984), and just as carefully they reflect on how they relate to each other and their profession. The love that arises between actors who have been on stage together for years and years is not only a subject of conversation, but also a continuous undercurrent in the performance – through their admiration for Rowlands and Cassavetes, the actors peel off their own mutual intimacy.
In the direction of Lizzy Timmers, the reenacted film scenes also retain their crushing power. When Dierickx plays the role of the bipolar Mabel in A woman under the influence in a few passages the struggle of living with a mental disorder becomes clear, and the inability of the environment to cope with it. The disarming relationship between brother and sister Sarah and Robert love streams is supported by the chemistry of Luppes and De Brauw, based on many years of collaboration.
The whole is lifted enormously by musician and composer Wessel Schrik, who provides both soundtrack and sound effects live. The moving dedication and virtuosity with which he supports the scenes is exactly what John & Gena communicates on all fronts: that making theater and film is essentially an act of love.