Where the Water Lies (2023)
a self-written sole theatre show, premiered at the 2023 New Zealand Fringe Festival.
Where The Water Lies is a solo theatre production, written and performed by James Ladanyi- his debut venture as a playwright. The work premiered at the 2023 New Zealand Fringe Festival in Wellington, staged at MEANWHILE Studios. ‘An intimate monologue on time, place and the ripple effects of circumstance. Where The Water Lies is Rubik’s Cubes, love and accepting what you can't control.’ The work was directed by James Cain, and produced by Ladanyi’s theatre company ‘Continuum Theatre Co.’
Reviews.
"Ladanyi is a great performer. He is wistful and considered, of course, but he is also funny and charming, and his moments of intense quiet are cycled with bursts of equally intense energy. It’s hard to know in this piece where Ladanyi’s influence ends and director James Cain’s influence begins, but either way, the pairing works. This is a monologue-style work, and we follow Ladanyi through vignettes of memory, seeing, gradually, how they all fit together. And this is the point I think: how everything fits together."
~ Art Murmurs
"it is Ladanyi’s energy and connection with the audience that really suck us in. At times he is infectious and dynamic, and at others wistful and nostalgic, balancing changing between these emotions skilfully. While at first the audience is waiting for the point of connecting the pieces to become apparent, and some of the comedic timing gets lost, the structure of the script engages us as the picture Ladanyi is painting comes into focus."
~ Wellington Regional News
"a lengthy, poetic and highly reflective piece on the theme of serendipity"
~ Theatreview
"It moved me, it made me laugh, it made me think about things I don't really think about in ways I've never thought about"
- Ben Wilson
"loved the specificity and particularity of it, and the warmth with which you connected with the audience… beautiful detail, beautiful structure"
~ Miranda Harcourt