NILAND THEATER REGIE

 THE NEW CONTINENT (2022) - toneel, avondvullend (20 rollen).

In de nabije toekomst. Vanwege een onbekende dreiging vertrekt een groep mensen naar Groenland, om daar opnieuw te beginnen, nu de ijskap nog verder gesmolten is. Onderweg komen ze terecht in een storm, krijgen averij, en moeten ze de ankers neerlaten. Opgesloten in het ruim van het schip, weten ze niet hoe lang het gaat duren voor ze weer verder kunnen. Een toneelstuk over wat onzekerheid met mensen doet, geinspireerd op de COVID pandemie. Voorstellingen juni 2022 in Brabantse Theaters.

Gus en Alice zijn de centrale karakters. Beiden zijn anders omgegaan met de situatie. ZE kwamen als een gelukkig koppel aan boord, maar.....

Gus comes closer. Alice stiffens a bit but allows him to.

Alice:               You’ve changed. Overnight. What happened?

Gus:                 I don’t know. (pause) You tell me.

Alice:               I’m afraid to.

Gus:                 You can say anything.

Alice:               No. I can’t. You will explode.

Gus:                 I won’t. Try me. I will hold back.

Alice:               Hold back. That means that you will be going mad inside,

                         but outside you’ll be faking that you are listening.

Gus:                 No! You know what I meant. You know! Have we really fallen to this level?

Alice sighs. Pause. An attempt from both to lighten the mood:

Alice:               The journey has been hard, hasn’t it?

Gus:                 Tell me about it.

Alice:               You… I… maybe the air is poisoned. I don’t know.

Gus:                 Being locked up brings out the negative.

Alice:               Indeed. It triggers what we try to hide.

Gus:                 What are you accusing me of?

Alice:               I’m not accusing anyone. It’s about me as well.

Gus:                 As well. That means about me too.

Alice:               My God. (imitating Gus:) ‘Have we really fallen to this level?’

Pause.

Gus:                 I’m sorry. I love you.

Alice:               Yes. You do.

Silence.

Gus:                 And You?

She doesn’t answer.

Gus:                 Let’s forget all this. Let’s think about our farm. The sheep. The sunrise.

                         Every morning. We’ve pictured it so often.

Alice:               (with reservation:) I’d love to. I would really like to picture us there.

Gus:                 We will be there! In just a few days. (to lighten the mood:) You will wake up and hear the                                 seagulls. And you will run outside - on your bare feet - pretending you are flying, together                               with the seagulls! Oh, how we enjoyed that, back home when we were fantasizing –

Alice:               Stop.

Gus:                 Right.

Alice:               Bad timing, Gus.

Gus:                 Meaning?

Alice:               It doesn’t help, a fond memory.

Gus:                 You talk in riddles.

Pause.

Alice:               I don’t know you anymore.

                         I was really shocked seeing you attack Ethan, out of the blue.

Gus:                 That wasn’t an attack, it –

Alice:               And shooing me away. Without even knowing why I needed you.

                         (Breaks down) I needed you. I never expected to need you as much

                         as I did in that moment. I never dreamt you would shut off from me.

Gus:                 I didn’t mean to, but I was in the middle of that­ -

Alice:               But I was in the middle…. ‘But’ means you think you can do it anyway!

Gus:                 Oh my god…

Long silence. They look at each other. They realize they are stuck.