Little Jokes in Times of War
"It was a common Hungarian custom that even in the darkest of times, when two friends met in the street they would ask each other, “Do you want to hear a little joke?”
Charlotte has always loved a crisis. She likes to think she gets it from her family. The Hungarian side of her family, that is. The side she likes to tell stories about.
‘Little Jokes in Times of War’ is a solo-devised autobiographical performance that tells and retells the story of her grandmother’s escape from Hungary in 1956.
The show interweaves storytelling, dance, poetry, reenactment, documentary footage from the National Film and Sound Archives, and more than your average amount of collages, to unravel Charlotte’s obsession with her family’s escape, and examine the impact that this event had on her grandmother, Lily, and years later, on Charlotte.
However, when she discovers the price Lily paid for being a loud woman, Charlotte is forced to confront whose side of the story she has been listening to, and how she will keep telling it.
“The artist’s remarkable proficiency on stage, as performer and director, is a revelation.” - Suzy Wrong, Suzy Goes See
“From beginning to end we were on the edge of our seats...a revealing and stand out performance.” - Naomi Hamer, TheatreTravels
“It is complete seduction….The content is riveting and confronting. It has no sentimentality. It is rigorous and fearless…This work deserves exposure again and again.” - Kevin Jackson Theatre Reviews
Presented by Shopfront Arts Co-Op at 107 Projects in 2020, then at Kings Cross Theatre in 2022.
Writing, direction and performance Charlotte Salusinszky
Sound/AV Design Rowan Yeomans
Mentor/Dramaturg Deborah Pollard
Outside Eye Natalie Rose
Photography Claire Hawley
