Celebrating 15 years of Kydonia Theater at Chania, the Memory theatre company has, starting from November 2014, presented the play Fishskin Trousers by English playwright Elizabeth Kuti.
The performances of the play will be honored by the presence of the Elizabeth Kuti herself who, after being invited by the Memory theater company, will arrive from London and attend the performance of her play on Friday 6th of February. After the performance, Kydonia Theater will open its doors and welcome actors, viewers, associates and friends of the theater, offering a glass of wine to anyone who would like to congratulate the author and celebrate 15 years of our theater’s presence.
Written in 2013, the play was translated and performed for the first time in Greece by the Memory theater company; the play is translated by Dimitris Kiousis and directed by Mihalis Virvidakis, with Ksanthi Kontou in scenery and costume selection, Dimitris Iatropoulos in composition and sound design and Maria Fouraki, George Railakis and Elpida Zampetaki as the actors of the play.
Fishskin Trousers, also presented successfully in London in 2013, is essentially a mystery play; three people, each from their own point of view, recount a story that takes place at Orford Ness, an area full of shadows and mysteries, plagued by unexplained phenomena in Eastern England. It is an ongoing story, which has its origins in the 12th century and is characterized by an elevated degree of political sensitivity.
“The play is inspired by a folk legend that you might have heard of; the Wild man of Orford. He was believed to be half fish, half man, a male mermaid, not unlike Triton from Greek mythology or at least that’s what his contemporaries thought when he was caught in their nets in the 12th century and was brought to a castle where he would later be submitted to torture. The play provides a new outlook on the story, seeking an explanation for the origin of this extraordinary being. For instance, the plot of the play is enriched with information from people who lived closer to our time. One of them is a scientist conducting a research on the reason behind the malfunctioning of radars at Orford Ness area, during the Cold War. My own research, as an author, concerning this part of the play, was also quite interesting; after thorough research, one can stumble across multiple files and documents, recently released to the public eye, speaking of a mysterious phenomenon, concerning an inexplicable sound that lead to the deactivation of the Orford Ness radar, a phenomenon for which no explanation has been provided for until today. Yet, at the same time, another story is intertwined in the narrative of the play, one of a young girl of our time, facing a difficult moment in her life that needs to be resolved as soon as possible. Orford is a place I’ve visited several times and I know quite well. It is a very mysterious yet beautiful, atmospheric place and the story of Wild man intrigued me because it accurately depicts how people deal with or treat people who are “different” from them, people who they don’t or can’t understand.”
For more information, please contact: 28210 92395 or 6973005570
Visit webpage: www.theatro-kydonia.gr