Ferenc Sinkó - on searches and bodily poetics

June brings the season's second premiere, a hybrid show, or rather a performance that foregrounds the tensions that arise in different facets of the body. Second Skin is a collective creation, coordinated by Ferenc Sinkó, whom we asked to answer a few questions about the whole working process.

1. What interests you when you start working on a show? What exactly are you researching? Is there something on your mind these days regarding your work as a creator/director?
Ferenc Sinkó: First of all, what interests me are the people I work with. I place a lot of value on choosing my team, I'm constantly looking for people/artists who inspire me, with whom I feel I could resonate, people I can build an honest relationship with, people/artists I'm not afraid of, who don't intimidate me. Then I too can offer THEM the guarantee of a generous, healthy, creative journey, based on respect and curiosity.
What interests and fascinates me is the actor's pre-expressive zone, their personal, intimate zone, the one they work with on stage. I like exploring vulnerability and sensitivity as indispensable tools for stage work.
As a director, I try to find myself, to rediscover myself in this position. I haven't worked from this position in a long time, since I don't have the pressure of it being an obligation; I don't make a living from it, so I think twice before stepping into this role, or I never put myself forward for it. I'm much more comfortable and effective as an assistant, a movement coach and an acting coach.

2. How did you approach the working process/rehearsals for the show Second Skin, given that it's a show that combines elements of dance/movement and theatre? Can we talk about a type of approach/aesthetic you practice through this show? What satisfactions and challenges come up when you work this way?
F.S.: I don't know what category to put the show in, it's certainly not a dance show and maybe not theatre either. I'd call it, rather, a hybrid show that combines atmospheres, images, performers questioning their body and their presence on stage, with situations that aren't very concrete and without a well-defined story. I don't have a style of my own, I always leave that up to others and I like to mold myself to the proposals of the people I work with. What I do have, though, is my own approach to the process I use when creating my shows. I try to create a conducive environment for a collaborative process. I work a lot with group exercises, I try to devour the theme indirectly, through many discussions and exercises that on the surface don't seem to have much to do with building the show. That IS the challenge too: to be able to convince my performers to be patient. Frustration can arise from this, since the show itself only appears quite late, toward the end of the process.

3. How was this theme of the body approached in different contexts, alone and in relation to others? In what ways did you approach it?
F.S.: We essentially explored three facets of the body: the intimate body, the social body and the professional body. The approach started from a self-reflexive perspective, with each performer invited to observe and identify these dimensions in their own life and work experience. The research wasn't limited to time spent in the rehearsal room. Throughout the whole process, the performers kept a journal in which they noted events, observations and reflections related to their own body, tracking how these three facets show up and interact in everyday life.
One of the conclusions of the process was becoming aware of the dimension of the professional body. As performers, we're used to seeing the body primarily as a working tool. This perspective raises questions about the relationship between the professional body and the other dimensions of our existence. What resources does the intimate body offer, and the social one? How do they influence stage presence and artistic practice?
The research also highlighted the deeply personal character of each performer's relationship with their own body. Beyond observation and analysis, each of them exposed their own perspective, an individual poetics of the body, made up of experiences, memories, fragilities and coping mechanisms. The vulnerability of this approach lies in taking on an honest look at one's own presence. What emerges in the process and on stage remains irreducibly personal, respects each performer's individuality and their own way of understanding and inhabiting the body. The stage result doesn't propose definitive answers, but exposes a process of searching and observing. What you see on stage is the atmosphere of an ongoing piece of research, a form of vulnerable presence that accepts and makes visible these conditions and tensions of the body. Each performer brings their own poetics into this space, and the meeting of these individual perspectives makes up the shared experience of the show.

4. You've had several experiences in various artistic contexts, and this is your first collaboration with Reactor as a director/coordinator of a show. Does anything change in your role when you work this way?
F.S.: Yes, a few things change, first of all through the context we work in. Being a laboratory, we have more time available for research, for questions and for stages that, in a usual production process, are often compressed. That lets me approach the role of director more as a facilitator of a shared exploration than as someone oriented exclusively toward a final result.
I also feel a great deal of trust from Reactor, and that freedom is essential for me. I've met a lot of openness, curiosity and willingness in the team, which makes the collaboration lively and stimulating. Every time I walk through the gate, I read the inscription Reactor de creație și experiment, and it puts me at ease.

5. What did you discover through your encounter with this artistic team (actors, actresses, set designer, musician/playwright, assistant director)?
F.S.: I have a very diverse team in terms of my relationship with each of them, which gave me a lot of satisfaction and challenges at the same time. Old relationships that I reactivated and reconnected with, and new, fresh encounters that give me a lot of energy and hope. Many new revelations. After the first meeting I had no doubt this team would work on the basis of generosity, respect and openness. Thank you to them.

6. How do you think this show will be received, both in terms of form and content? I'm also thinking about the fact that artistic intent can always be perceived differently by different spectators.
F.S.: I don't know, and I honestly can't tell. We'll find out. Still, I think Reactor has an audience that's trained for artistic challenges.

(photo: Oana Hodade)

Cultural project co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration. The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding beneficiary.