The queuer

La codista is a personal piece about identity and the desire to slow down sometimes.

 

When he lost his job, the Milanese Giovanni Cafaro began waiting in line for others in exchange for money. The actress Marleen Scholten used his story as a basis for her monologue La codista. It turned into a story about waiting in line (‘la coda’), about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and about the impatience and desire that is a part of waiting. La codista waits her turn together with the audience.

 

I do not want to be first but rather last. The faster the world moves, the more I slow down. I go against the current. Like salmon. For a ‘codista’, the world is the other way around.

 

Scholten lives in Italy and for this project she interviewed various Italians about how they experience standing still and what it means. In addition, the actress stood in line for hours, for example at the post office or the tax office, in order to experience for herself the mechanism of waiting. She found chaos and simplicity there, people coming together someplace with only one purpose: waiting their turn.

 

Scholten was awarded Italy’s Antonio Conti national playwright’s prize for the piece and La codista has been selected by the Toneeljury for the Dutch Theater Festival 2022.

By and with

  • Marleen Scholten

Dramaturgy

  • Dafne Niglio

Lighting design

  • Emanuele Cavalcanti

Costume advice

  • Lotte Goos

Photography

  • Luca Chiaudano

Production manager

  • Acteursgroep Wunderbaum
  • Associazione TRAK

coproduction

  • Theater Rotterdam

Residence

  • OTSE Officine Theatrikes Salento Ellada

in cooperation with

  • Embassy and Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

With the support of

  • Centro di Residenza della Toscana
  • Kilowatt festival

Special thanks to

  • Giovanni Cafaro
  • Paolo Aniello
  • Pietro Valenti
  • Paolo Mastromo
  • Bas Ernst, Umberto Angelini
  • Zona K-Milano
  • NTGent
  • Liesje Schreuders

German translation

  • Andrea Theresia van Dingstee

Past dates

  • November 2024

    22

    MM Teatro Milano
    Milaan

  • September 2024

    16

    Capitol Offenbach
    (German spoken)

  • July 2024

    26

    Festival Musamadre
    Sardinia (IT)

  • June 2024

    08

    Theater Discounter Berlin

  • June 2024

    07

    Theater Discounter Berlin

  • June 2024

    05

    Ruhrfestspiele
    Recklinghausen

  • June 2024

    04

    Ruhrfestspiele
    Recklinghausen

  • June 2024

    03

    Ruhrfestspiele
    Recklinghausen

  • February 2024

    21

    Goudse Schouwburg

  • February 2024

    09

    Teatro Binario
    Monza (IT)

  • February 2024

    08

    Grand Theatre
    Groningen

  • December 2023

    05

    Stadsschouwburg Utrecht

  • November 2023

    19

    Trieste (IT)

  • November 2023

    18

    Trieste (IT)

  • August 2023

    17

    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • August 2023

    16

    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • August 2023

    15

    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • August 2023

    13

    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • August 2023

    12

    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • August 2023

    11

    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • August 2023

    10

    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • August 2023

    09

    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • August 2023

    08

    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • August 2023

    06

    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • August 2023

    05

    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • August 2023

    04

    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • December 2022

    04

    Casa del Contemporaneo, Sala Assoli
    Napels (IT)

  • December 2022

    03

    Casa del Contemporaneo, Sala Assoli
    Napels (IT)

  • December 2022

    02

    Casa del Contemporaneo, Teatro Ghirelli
    Salerno (IT)

  • December 2022

    01

    Casa del Contemporaneo, Teatro Ghirelli
    Salerno (IT)

  • November 2022

    19

    Made In Germany
    Stuttgart (DE)

  • September 2022

    16

    Musis Stadstheater
    Arnhem

  • September 2022

    09

    ITA/ Nederlands Theaterfestival
    Amsterdam

  • July 2022

    28

    Chassé Theater
    Breda

  • June 2022

    04

    Frascati
    Amsterdam

  • June 2022

    03

    Frascati
    Amsterdam (Italiaans met NL boventitels)

  • April 2022

    30

    Monty
    Antwerpen (België)

  • April 2022

    29

    Theater a/h Spui
    Den Haag, GEANNULEERD

  • April 2022

    28

    Theater a/h Spui
    Den Haag

  • April 2022

    20

    Theater Rotterdam
    locatie William Boothlaan 8 (Italiaans met NL boventitels)

  • April 2022

    19

    Theater Rotterdam
    locatie William Boothlaan 8

  • March 2022

    26

    Teatro Magro
    Mantova (Italië)

  • December 2021

    18

    Theaterhaus Jena
    Jena (Duitsland)

  • December 2021

    17

    Theaterhaus Jena
    Jena (Duitsland)

  • December 2021

    16

    Theaterhaus Jena
    Jena (Duitsland)

  • November 2021

    13

    Theater Rotterdam (Italiaans)

  • November 2021

    12

    Theater Rotterdam

  • November 2021

    11

    Theater Rotterdam

  • November 2021

    10

    Theater Rotterdam

  • October 2021

    31

    Pesaro (Italië)

  • October 2021

    15

    Theaterhaus Jena
    Jena (Duitsland)

  • October 2021

    14

    Theaterhaus Jena
    Jena (Duitsland)

  • July 2021

    20

    Kilowatt Festival
    Sansepolcro (Italië)

  • June 2021

    14

    'Holland Festival - Frascati
    Amsterdam'

  • June 2021

    13

    'Holland Festival - Frascati
    Amsterdam'

  • June 2021

    01

    Triennale Milano
    Milaan (Italië)

  • May 2021

    31

    Triennale Milano
    Milaan (Italië)

  • October 2020

    03

    FIT festival Lugano
    Teatro Foce (Zwitserland)

  • August 2020

    30

    Castrignano de Greci
    Puglia (Italië)

  • August 2020

    29

    Castrignano de Greci
    Puglia (Italië)

  • August 2020

    28

    Castrignano de Greci
    Puglia (Italië)

“Wonderful jewel”★★★★⁠★⁠ (NRC)

“Scholten does it exemplarily for an hour: with her beautiful, powerful voice, controlled mimicry and infectious charm, she portrays an unemployed woman who makes a virtue of necessity” (Volkskrant)

“Marleen Scholten is pitch perfect : she delivers her narrative with charm, wit and is a fine story-teller” (Edinburgh Fringe Review 2023)

“Remarkable acting makes all this philosophising feel fascinating and twisty, which is no small feat: in less skilled hands, an hour of waiting would surely feel interminable. A bold gambit from a bold performer, La codista knows that time is money. It doesn’t waste a second.” ★★★⁠★ (The Scotsman)

Join!

* indicates required

Current projects