I Wanna Be Like You was a site-specific work created with Lena Toropov, the indomitable proprietor and chef of Balaclava Deli, the last, fresh, Jewish food outlet in Balaclava.
Sitting on milk crates in the loading dock, we wrote a script from Lena's stories and framed a participatory story-telling event.
In performance, the audience entered the kitchen through the ‘magic curtain’, the plastic flyscreen at the back door, ate blintzes and learnt how to make kreplach (dumplings) while Lena and I simultaneously played 'Lena'.
Intended to be an expression of the actor’s desire to ‘be like you’, the performance became 'mimesis under pressure', a precarious space that told two stories at once: the real Lena, and the impersonator's impersonation. The audience was free to compare the performers’ authenticity, and recognise what the ‘real Lena’ left unsaid.
Photos: Carla Gottgens
