EN'KEPHALE - 2008 (PHOTOS) LAU - Major Theatre Production

En'kephale was performed in Gulbenkian Theatre in Beirut between the 12th and the 20th of January 2008.
A perfect example of the Theatre of the Edge: "actors had their hands tied to extensions which were 4 by 4 wooden sticks. They had to exist and climb on platforms which were 6 meters high, with the width of 90 cm. The first time they climbed on them, some of them cried."
Few are the directors who would trust and push their actors so far. Many build platforms and use them as part of a décor but do not dare go further.. The set ends up not being used by the actors!

"We closed our eyes, and..
First, there was light: light defined space..
Then there was sound: sound defined time..
Time and space existed through vibrations..
Vibrations and energies existed only through emotions..
We concluded that we were vibrations and energies, defined by our emotions..

Creatures existing only through emotions,
living in the middle of nowhere (in a liminal space),
with no past, no present, no future (in a liminal time)..

Creatures existing, exploring, re-exploring, through a quest:
the quest of the self, of the other, of the alter-ego..
always trying to create its space, to define its territory..
to involve the other.. to include the other.. to fight the other.. to fight oneself..

But the spaces created, like the world we live in, are only traps, webs, in which we only are entangled, stuck..
and the other is only an image..
is he a virtual other?
or the image of oneself projected in the other?"

When the Didaskalos directed En'kephale, he had a fractured leg; and as always he insisted on being the first person to climb up the set, to check its safety.. With his crutches he trained his actors to become familiar with a set that can be considered too dangerous by many who are in full control of their both legs!