The Human Voice, by Jean Cocteau

A lonely character onstage. A phone that rings. A woman in love who answers.

The Human Voice by Jean Cocteau

A generous and human declaration of love. (Oana Pellea)

A lonely woman onstage and a phone that rings. On the end of the line, her former lover about to marry someone else. All hopes rest on the chance of a final conversation. The simple gesture of picking up opens the gateway to all the hopes and shared memories, all the regrets and fears encompassed in this acutely accurate exploration of heartbreak.

Sanda Manu directs Oana Pellea in Cocteau’s anguished monologue tracing the breakdown of a woman deserted in a phone call by her lover. Witness Oana Pellea’s pitch perfect psychological transformation (LiterNet) in this renewed encounter between two theatre legends of great compassion and sensibility to their art.

Oana Pellea clown, tempest, eccentric and elaborate (Sanda Manu), is an internationally acclaimed actor who enchants and impresses royalties, practitioners and audiences alike. Her extensive body of work in film and theatre includes iconic interpretations in Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men alongside Clive Owen, Oliver Parker's I Really Hate My Job, Jean-Christophe Comar's Fire and Ice, Stere Gulea's State of Fact; Masha in Chekov's Three Sisters, Lucius in Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar and Catarina in Mihai Maniutiu's production of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. In London she most recently performed in M. Visniec's Buzunarul cu Paine (Pockets Full of Bread) at Riverside Studios. She has received numerous awards, most notably the Romanian Association of Theatre Artists (UNITER) Best Actress Award and The Cross of the Royal House of Romania Medal from King Mihai I.

The Human Voice investigates a woman's soul in a performance close to perfection. (Adevărul/The Truth, Romanian national press)

By: Jean Cocteau
Directed by: Sanda Manu
With: Oana Pellea
Set design: Iuliana Valsan
English translation by Anthony Wood, with kind permission from Eric Glass Ltd

Duration: 50 min

Performed in Romanian with English surtitles

The Human Voice is part of the Tales Told in Romanian series offering Romanian and British audiences the best of Romanian theatre, actors and performances, inspired by classical and contemporary literature and drama, both native and universal. The project is an initiative of Claudia Cîrlig and is developed in partnership with ICR London.