SYNOPSIS
A trio of one-act plays, by Greece’s foremost contemporary female playwright, The City is reminiscent of Pinter in the multiple versions of the truth offered by the characters. It is an examination of the resounding echo of conflict as it intrudes into the private space; a space which is both refuge and prison.
Intimately staged with the collaboration of and at GIANT OLIVE’s home, the Lion and Unicorn, STURDY BEGGARS’ production of The City draws the audience into a post- apocalyptic vision of the world in which the past proves stronger than the present.
In the Overnight Visitor two generations conflict because their fears differ: Mimis' lost ideals taunt him with their betrayal, while young Sophia's ignorant lack of ideals prevents her from understand him. A generation of broken dreams squares up against one that has become desensitised. The picture of which emerges is compelling in its chilly austerity.
In The City, Elisabeth, a woman who believes that her first love was executed in a recent past and Kimon who refuses to leave the safety of their apartment - indulge in a charade which delights in the torture of a third; a lonely, weak man, whose business is taking photographs of people in “unusual” poses.
In The Parade Aris and Zoe live alone in a shabby room, in an alien environment, unable or unwilling to venture out. Their squabbles and reconciliations provide a lyrical cadenza of uncertainty and fear. But ultimately they are silenced by the barbaric rituals of an outside world which invades their emptiness and imposes its crescendo.
Loula Anagnostaki is the most important female Greek contemporary playwright. She was born in 1940 in Thessaloniki and graduated from Law School. At the age of 25 her first play (this trilogy) was staged with great success. Most of her plays have also been staged abroad (Italy, France, UK, USA). Her work stands out because of her astute observations of how history influences peoples’ lives and the suffocation and disappointment of the “everyman”. Her last play, To You that Listen to Me, was presented with great success in Athens in 2003.
She is often compared to Pinter because of the natural musicality of her language and dialogue and the particularity of her idiom. There is also a Pinter-like lyrical quality to reminiscing monologues and a universality of setting. The most striking parallel, however, is the multiple versions of truth offered by her characters.
These three one-act plays were first presented in 1965 by Karolos Koun presented at his "Art Theatre" (Theatro Technis) in a single performance. In 1969 The Parade was staged in Paris, directed by Antoine Vitez, and The City was presented by BBC Television, directed by Martin Esslin.
COMPANIES
Giant Olive enjoyed critical and commercial success over the holiday period at the North London Theatre with their acclaimed production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL.
STURDY BEGGARS formed last year. Their first season explored the theme of The Outsider through different pieces of theatre – from new writing to Shakespeare, from naturalism to expressionism, from comedy to tragedy. The season began with the sell-out production of Witold Gombrowicz’s PRINCESS IVONA at the Workhouse Theatre and was followed by the critically praised OTHELLO and David Mamet’s BOSTON MARRIAGE at the Pacific Playhouse. The season culminated in a performance of three pieces of new writing at The White Bear.
STURDY BEGGARS are completely non-profit-making. Taking their name from the "Statute for the Punishment of Rogues, Vagabonds and Sturdy Beggars" of 1598, which classified actors alongside prostitutes and criminals as being the lowest grade members of society but gave them particular dispensations for being the “Deserving Poor.” |
