Skip to main content
Words marking the borders of silence

Platinum/Unisono

Abke Haring

‘Unison’ is an intimate monologue, performed by one actor in a minimalist setting. While the audience take their seats, the actor paces the stage. She pours herself a cup of tea, sits down, looks up, remains silent. Just when the silence becomes uncomfortable, she opens her mouth and says a little prayer, not directed to any God. She starts talking about the banalities of daily life, but her sentences are interspersed with both painful and poetic observations about regret, doubt, seizing the moment. Meanwhile the word ‘naastenliefde’ (‘compassion’) appears throughout the text. With pensive and few words, the character tries to get a grip on her life.

The ingenious text draws on many registers, with apparent superficiality constantly punctuated by sudden, fundamental cries for help.
De Morgen

Whereas ‘Unison’ tries to find words for loneliness, ‘Platinum' is an equally spare text about two people facing a final goodbye. In this second piece, the same female actor wants to engage in a conversation with a male actor, but he declines the invitation. Both of them are sitting at a table facing the audience. They are separated by a massive silence, now and then interspersed with banalities. He is terminally ill and they are saying goodbye. Their body language is more important than the banal words they utter. It is the silence that speaks loudest – even if the woman ultimately breaks it with a veritable deluge of words that seek to express her love and pain.

After this performance, you will feel somewhat revitalized. It is magic.
Knack Focus
Haring’s most devastating work in years.
NRC Handelsblad
Trailer 'Unisono' - Copyright Toneelhuis
Trailer 'Platina' - Copyright Toneelhuis