Whole Lotta Love

Εν Δυνάμει Theatre Company’s The Other Normal trilogy finally comes to an end with its third chapter, Horse in Love, a striking example of inclusive, social, research theatre revolving around the emotional limits we impose on ourselves in an attempt to control that animal instinct we call love.

 

 

What is love? Is it a voluntary choice for kindness, empathy and compliance? Is it the only worthwhile reason to live, or just a momentarily distraction? Is it one and the same with sex? Is it the morning after, the blanket still slightly wet, the messy hair, the slow breathing, the sleepy look between strangers? Or is it perhaps a «”disability” that dominates us, destroys us, blows us up, makes us go crazy and burns us»? With its latest production, Horse in Love, the Εν Δυνάμει Theatre Company researches the thorny theme with a sizeable cast of people with and without disabilities, focusing on how this feeling manages to find its way in every nook and cranny of our existence, regardless of our age, sexual preferences and genes.

On a bare scene with just a tree stage left and a cosy room stage right, 27 actors from all walks of life incessantly weave with their bodies, their voices and their personalities a dense tapestry made of stories, thoughts, songs and sorrows, polyphonically speaking about taboos and hypocrisy, the dream of inclusiveness and the segregating reality, poetry and mud. Through an ingenious use of differences and imbalances, both direction and choreography find new and interesting ways to open doors and change attitudes while respecting individuality and tromping on self-righteousness. All questions raised are honest and necessary in order to develop (or at least to spark a thought) a holistic view on the accessibility of love in our modern days society, especially for those who are still looking for the right key to access their own selves.

«People learn to talk, but forget to say what they’re feeling», and that is why Eleni Efthimiou forces her audience to listen to the confessions of her performers – at times gentle and intimate as a stolen caress and at times rough and poignant as a naked, holy body – visible in their disabilities, but at the same time celebrated for their uniqueness and value as acting forces, regardless of any physical or mental impediment.

There is no call for tears or easy sentimentalisms, no strumentalisation of flaws and deficiencies and yet the audience is not swept away by the prowess of all actors (despite the spot-on teacup scene, that manages to tear down the whole façade of a paper house made of bigotry, dogmatism, ignorance and cowardice), probably because of a tight rehearsal period and a general overreliance on the text, which shines too bright in the limelight, dampening all the other fires. Nevertheless, Horse in Love pulls no punches and, as a barrier-breaking show, hits in all the right places, albeit with too little conviction. Only time will turn this issue-based play into a damn good piece of theatre that changes the way we think. In the meanwhile, let’s love.

The show is still playing
Theatre Moni Lazariston
Kolokotroni 25, Thessaloniki
from 19 to 27 of May
Wednesday, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 21.00
Sundays at 19.00

The Εν Δυνάμει Theatre Company presents
Horse in Love – Ερωτευμένα Άλογα
idea and artistic direction Eleni Dimopoulou
direction Eleni Efthimiou
research and writing Eleni Efthimiou and Εν Δυνάμει company
dramaturgy Sofia Efthyiadou
sets and costumes Evangelia Kirkin
contributor – set designer Richard Anthony
lighting design Richard Anthony, Vangelis Maroulis
choreography and movement Tasos Papadopoulos
artistic contributor Vitoria Kotsalou
optical environment and video Dimitris Zachos
photography Orestis Psomopoulos
music Eleni Efthimiou, Odysseas Gallios
sound design and orchestration Odysseas Gallios
production organization Fotini Tsakiri
assistant director Vangelis Kosmidis
assistant set designer and costume designer Sophia Patsinakidou
special stage and costume designs Marios-Leandros Bateas
hairstyle – makeup Alkistis Papageorgiou
cast Cleo Andonopoulou, Noemi Vasiliadou, Chrysa Goumas, Maria Dachlythra, Margarita Kainada, Anna Kalintseva, Evangelia Kefala, Evangelina Karyofylli, Vangelis Kosmidis, Elias Kugiumtzis, Yota Kouitzoglou, Theano Koda, Nikos Kyparissis, Angelos Constantinou, Loxandra Lucas, Dimitris Lyra, Sophia Bletsou, Thanos Nanasis, Michalis Dolopoulos, Theano Papavassiliou, Argyris Pneumatikos, Christos Sioumis, Athena Sotiroglou, Despina Triantafyllidou, Nefeli Tsintzou, Danae Tsorlini, Alexandros Hatsios