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“Young Lear” directed by Ioli Andreadi
Based on William Shakespeare’s King Lear ; written by Ioli Andreadi and Aris Asproulis

An old, very old tale
About a naked King who, giving away his heavy duties,
Was devoured by the snake of Life
And found out everything the man knows when he succumbs.

I read about the success of the “Young Lear” presented for the first time on the 17th and 18th of July 2016 at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival.  Unfortunately I was not in Athens to experience this play but I was gladly informed by Ioli and Aris  that it will be presented on limited engagement this  October at Thissio theater. October 1st, in Athens, opening night.  Joy and admiration for this young and much promised new voice in theater, Ioli Andreadi.

I met Ioli Andreadi and Aris Asproulis a hot August afternoon  in Sifnos island; they brought me a small gift the book “Young Lear”(Kapa Ekdotiki); enjoying a glass of cold greek wine, I enjoyed listening their future plans and  talking to me about the play… later that night I read in one breath the book;  I was trying to imagine this beautiful young woman, Ioli Andreadi, a fragile figure like Audrey Hepburn, how she managed to engage herself in such a  difficult play and bring it  under a modern light.  Indeed, Ioli  has done it.

photo@Panos Michail

‘Young Lear” is honest, clear and bold.  A strange, imaginative dual narration begins. A new ‘postmodern’ rapprochement.  Ioli and Aris  selectively transfer parts  of King Lear, creating two levels, one that is written  now, at present, and the other inhaling  thru the Shakespearean chosen text(s). Having as a guide the King Lear, they brilliantly bring the audience to experience a modern family tragedy.  The dramaturgy of the actors in equal levels alters from the spoken words of the careful text  to the well orchestrated  actors’ movements expressing and indicating  their intentions.  The balance is superb.   The minimal and  austere set design  (waiting room of  a hospital) by Dimitra Liakoura  is managed  miraculously by the actors;

photos@Kiki Papadopoulou

Ioli Andreadi and Aris Asproulis are determined to question bold questions : Are the protagonists of King Lear depositaries of family structures and conflicts? Representatives of good or evil? Archetypes for the characters we invent for our ancestors, whose fulfillment burdens us our whole lives long? And what about these fears that seem to be ours but are not? Can the Shakespearean language serve as a substitute for what is left unsaid at the dinner table? Can poetry return what was never fulfilled?

photos@Kiki Papadopoulou

Concept – Direction – Translation – Movement: Ioli Andreadi
Text: Ioli Andreadi & Aris Asproulis
Set & Costume Design: Dimitra Liakoura
Sound Design: Yiannis Christophides
Lighting Design: Christina Thanasoula
Constructions – Artwork: Pericles Pravitas
Photos: Panos Michail and Kiki Papadopoulou
Production Design: Art Minds

Cast (in an alphabetical order): Christina Garbi, Eleana Kafkala, Thimios Koukios, Maria G. Proistaki, Nektarios Smyrnakis, Miltiadis Fiorentzis

2016. At a hospital. Somewhere.

synopsis: In the waiting room of the surgery, five brothers and sisters are waiting, while their father is going through a high-risk surgical operation. The hours go by. After many moments of fear, silence and agony, one of the sons starts speaking. He takes over the ‘part’ of the father. His are King Lear’s words. His siblings are hesitant. Why should someone want the ‘part’ of the father? Gradually, they give in and follow his lead. They undermine him. They provoke him. Young Lear is a new play based on the well-known tale of the King of Britain who divides his fortune to his two daughters who do not love him, but know how to win, and disowns the third daughter who loves him but does not know how to show it. This is the renowned story of the king who was fooled and became vulnerable, who lost his mind and became wise. (Young Lear, press ) 

photos@Kiki Papadopoulou

Ioli Andreadi was born in Athens. She studied directing at RADA and King’s College London (MA), where in 2014 she completed her PhD on Theatre and Ritual as an Alexander S. Onassis Foundation grantee. She lived in London and New York for seven years. She is a graduate of the Art Theatre Karolos Koun and the Theatre Studies Department of the University of Athens (BA) and holds an MA in Cultural Politics, Communication and Management from Panteion University. She has directed more than 25 productions in Athens, London, Edinburgh, Berlin, Rome and New York. She was a founding member of the international platform of theatre directors “World Wide Lab” that was created at Bob Wilson’s Watermill Center in 2011 and served as Artistic Director in New York in 2013 and in 2015 – the year when with her own initiative the Lab was hosted and organized at the island of Syros. Since then, Ioli works intensively in Greece. She has written with Aris Asproulis and directed in Greece the following shows over the past two years: “Artaud-Van Gogh / avec un pistolet”at Theatre Semio, “Cenci Family” at the Michael Cacoyiannis Foundation, “210.000 oka of cotton” at the Historical Archive of the Pireaus Bank, “Young Lear” at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival and “Murder in the Cathedral” at the Filippi Festival.

A first draft of Young Lear was staged by Ioli Andreadi in October 2014 at Teatro Due Roma, with the help of American director Annie Levy, as part of the international platform of directors “World Wide Lab”

http://www.kapaekdotiki.gr

Ειναι οι ηρωες του Βασιλια Ληρ θεματοφυλακες των οικογενειακων δομων και συγκρουσεων? Εκπροσωποι του καλου και του κακου? Αρχετυπα των χαρακτηρων που επινοουμε για τους  προγονους μας και που η εκπληρωση τους μας βαραινει μια ζωη? Κι αυτοι οι φοβοι που μοιαζουν δικοι μας κι ομως δεν ειναι? Μπορει, αραγε, η γλωσσα του Σαιξπηρ να υποκατστησει οσα δεν λεγονται στο οικογενειακο τραπεζι? Η ποιηση να επιστρεψει οσα δεν εκπληρωθηκαν ποτε? Κι αν ειναι η συγκρουση του παροντος με το παρελθον η αδιαφιλονικητη καθημερινοτητα μας  ? (Ιολη Ανδρεαδη,  Μια πρωτη σκεψη, Λονδινο, 2013) 

Ioli and Aris, Sifnos, August 2016     photo@Venetia Kapernekas

……σπεύδω να τονίσω πως η ιδέα και η γραφή της Ιόλης Ανδρεάδη με συνεργάτη τον Αρη Ασπρούλη είναι τίμια, διαυγής και τολμηρή. Εκαναν επιλεκτική μεταγραφή μέρους του Βασιλιά Ληρ, υπηρετώντας τη δική τους επαναπροσέγγιση με όρους οικονομικούς και ματιά κοινωνικο-ανθρωπολογική. Τα δύο επίπεδα στα οποία γράφτηκε το έργο, ένα σημερινό κι ένα μέσα από τα σαιξπηρικά αποσπάσματα, λειτουργούν και συμπορεύονται τόσο νοηματικά όσο κι ερμηνευτικά κερδίζοντας το δύσκολο στοίχημα.  (Αννυ Κολτσιδοπουλου στη Kathimerini, ” Παλιοι μυθοι σε νεα μορφη” )

Ο “Young Lear” δεν είναι μια κατά γράμμα μεταφορά του γνωστού σαιξπηρικού έργου, ωστόσο είναι πανέξυπνος ο τρόπος που ο Σαίξπηρ κουμπώνει με μια σύγχρονη οικογενειακή τραγωδία, ακόμη πιο ιδιοφυής είναι ο συμβολισμός που οδήγησε στη δημιουργία αυτής της παράστασης: όταν χάνουμε τους γονείς μας, αλλάζει η ταυτότητά μας, ολόκληρη η ύπαρξή μας, σταματάμε να είμαστε ο γιος ή η κόρη και περνάμε σε ένα άλλο στάδιο, αυτό της οριστικής και αμετάκλητης ενηλικίωσης – και τότε καλούμαστε να ανταπεξέλθουμε σε αυτή τη σκηνή, την γεμάτη τρελούς, απροστάτευτοι και μονοι. Το αποτέλεσμα, ωστόσο εδώ, είναι φρέσκο και απρόσμενα διασκεδαστικό. Η δραματουργία είναι εξαιρετικής σημασίας στην παράσταση, γιατί εφόσον τα αδέρφια χρησιμοποιούν τα λόγια του Σαίξπηρ για να εκφράσουν τα πάθη τους, οι κινήσεις τους είναι που μας κάνουν να βλέπουμε τις προθέσεις τους. Σε αυτό το επίπεδο, είναι δύσκολο να διαχωρίσεις τη σκηνοθεσία της Ιόλης Ανδρεάδη από την δραματουργία γιατί είναι ένα και το αυτό. Η κίνηση αποκτά λόγο Γιαννης Μοσχος clickatlife.gr 

Θεατρο Θησειον, Τουρναβιτου 7, Ψυρρη

“The Return of the exile” (2011)  Devised and directed by Ioli Andreadi;  The Yard Theatre, London,  Review by Howard Loxton