Virginia Woolf's "The Waves"
The English literary masterpiece on the Greek stage for the first time.
Our friends, how seldom visited, how little known—it is true; and yet, when I meet an unknown person, and try to break off, here at this table, what I call ‘my life,’ it is not one life that I look back upon; I am not one person; I am many people; I do not altogether know who I am—Jinny, Susan, Neville, Rhoda, or Louis: or how to distinguish my life from theirs”.
Bernard’s words in the final chapter of The Waves crystallize the message of hope contained in Virginia Woolf’s groundbreaking novel. This lyrical, dreamy show follows every phase in the lives of a group of friends from childhood to adulthood and maturity as each of them strives to find their individual identity and bond with one another.
The seventh friend, Percival, is their ideal: flawless, godlike, his virtues worshipped, himself revered. His passing is a milestone for every member of the group. Nothing can ever be the same after his death, and, in their early twenties, each of them has to re-invent himself or herself. In this performance, Percival enters the stage accompanied by a 15-member orchestra band. He or she – gender unknown - records the faces of his beloved friends on camera, until he or she dies, with the greatest of dignity, in a dance both heartrending and uplifting.
Growing old with friends and allowing yourself to be influenced by and defined through others is one of the most meaningful aspects of life. This is what Woolf’s magnificent poetic words tell us in Bernard’s retrospective narrative.
TRANSLATED BY: Aris Berlis
ADAPTED AND DIRECTED BY: Agelita Tsougou
CHOREOGRAPHY: Ermira Goro
ORIGINAL MUSIC: Aris Siafas
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Katerina Maragoudaki
SET DESIGNER: Rallou Panagiotou
COSTUME DISIGNER: Angelos Frentzos
VIDEO: Haris Germanidis
LIVE VIDEO: Ermira Goro
CAST
BERNARD: Babis Gousias
SUSAN: Sunny Hatziargyri
RHODA: Antigoni Drakoulaki
LOUIS: Flavius Neagu
JINNY: Sofianna Theofanous/Kitty Paitazoglou
NEVILLE: Stathis Mantzoros/Dimitris Tselios
PERCIVAL: Ermira Goro
LIVE MUSIC BY: 15-member Orchestra
CONDUCTOR: Kostas Ioannides