MAYBE IT'S ELEKTRA
title. Vielleicht ist es Elektra / Maybe it's Elektra
ensemble. Terrasse Ensemble Zürich & memental theatre
director. Ermis Peristeris
set & costume design. Daphne Kokkini
date. 2022
city. Zürich
type. visual concept / stage design / theatre production
MAYBE IT'S ELEKTRA
The project was conceived by Ermis Peristeris and Sofia Arnaoutaki, members of Memental Theatre in Athens. The collaboration started in September 2021 and the performance took place in Zürich in June 2022.
From the official announcement of the play:
"In a modern, democratic society, that has defined its social regulations, a part of its citizens function with their own rules. They defy every consequence of their actions and they sink into lie, vulgarity, violence and lawlessness. The one that helps only the already powerful people.
The play brings the Justice system face to face with vigilant justice. Is it possible for someone to rule, legislate and arbitrate at the same time? Can laws conflict with values and ethics of one citizen or one group of citizens?
The reason for all the questions above is the story of a family that is wiped out and the possible suspects are its own members. A family which maybe implements a cruel rule: Murder is only washed out with murder. Electra, one of the daughters of Atreides family is inside an interrogation room. The murder of her mother has preceded and the criminal investigation squad is getting information and clues from her.
The Electra complex is there, either as an invincible thread or a tight noose throughout the play. The main hero seeks justice. She wants to avenge the loss of her father. She believes that the person responsible for the murder is her mother.
It’s a known fact that for ancient Greeks retribution was a rigid law. Did you kill? You shall be killed! If the killer remained unpunished, it seemed like the foundations of the society were shaken and the moral order was disturbed.
This play is a modern remake of the ancient myth of Atreides with Electra as the main character. She who has become an eternal symbol of love towards the father figure and has given her name to the complex analyzed by Carl Jung. It records today’s reality, the patriarchal society and it dissects a world established in lie, money, vulgarity and crime that prevails due to the inescapable need for justice.
SET & COSTUME DESIGN
Playing between the present and the past, we created a minimal space that can be easily transformed from interrogation room to the scene of the crime and vice versa. Flash backs take us back to how the story of the patricide took place and enlight the psyche of the main heroine.
A glass table placed in the center of the stage creates multiple images of the person under question (Elektra) and the ones involved in the story switch between actuall heros of the Atreides circle and detective officers. Two cameras record Elektras face and her detailed reactions and live monitors face the audience. A huge evidence board, with all the data collected by the cold case investigation squad and threads spaning between them, as well archival registers spread around the room, frame the scene.
Fot the costumes we delved into a creative brainstorming, bouncing between modernity, the balkan underworld and asian street fashion with a touch of gothic. We wanted to bring each of the characters that surrounded Elektra to life, playing in terms of authority, domination and complicity. At the same time Elektra is seen as the rebel of the family, the one who takes the law in her hands and plots the perfect crime but at the end admits to it. She is the girl that was never understood by her family.
The pool of ideas created a second evidence board backstage, and the way we came to conclusions about each of the figure, adopted the investigation methods in many ways. Some
A CREATIVE INVESTIGATION CASE
The pool of ideas created a second evidence board backstage, and the way we came to conclusions about each of the figure, adopted the investigation methods in many ways. During the rehearsals i captured instants of looks of suspicion and disbelief and rearranged them on my mood board as a narrative of a crime. A playfull blurring of boundaries between the story and our function as a backstage team. In all i enjoyed this work and the collaboration with a very clear director's intention to create a play about the laws and justice.
