Smoking and other Crimes was conceived of on a rainy afternoon in December 2007 in one of those smoky local 18th century bars in the center of Amsterdam. A drunkard’s conversation took place: a regular smoking costumer and the bartender were discussing the prospective “smoking ban”. I tried picturing this traditional bar without the perpetual smoke that seems to have been soaking into the old walls for hundreds of years. This is when I realized that this day – June 30, 2008 – is about to change the historical landscape. Just like tearing out old wallpaper and painting the walls white, starting fresh by erasing memories.
At the end of March, the writing process came to an end. I’ve written the play under time pressure as it seemed crucial to carry it out on the actual night of the historical transition of civilization as we know it: from a smoking to a non-smoking one. The play is a requiem, if you’d like.
Three months before the smoking ban, all I had was the script and no money. Searching for a theater director, I met Mathieu van den Berk – an actor and director with a great sense for the comic, and Danny Hollander – a professional cinematographer with a high sensitivity for the visual. They envisioned turning the theater-play of Smoking into a film, without making any text adaptations. In the meanwhile, Denis Mujovic, the producer of the whole project, introduced me to Ira Prica, a talented theater maker and a remarkable mime. Ira and I had a few drinks and smoked a few cigarettes. And the rest is history, like the curling smoke.
A film AND a play based on the same script took their first steps, hand in hand. Both made independently and voluntarily by a group of incredible people – actors, sound and lighting technicians, cameramen, stylists and make-up professionals – who create out of pure joy.
No time, no money. Here are the end results of Smoking and Other Crimes. Maya van den Heuvel |
