VENUS I & II // 2013-14
// an ode to the pigeons lost over the islands of the Aegean Sea
VENUS I & II were works-in-progress presented exactly one year apart at the artist-occupied Embros Theatre, as part of its annual Queer Festival. They charted the exploration and development of a new persona that would also make an appearance in THE WALK as a tour guide before evolving into its final habitat – RELIC – in 2015.
VENUS referred not only to the ancient Mediterranean goddess, or the Venus of Willendorf, but also to the distant planet we have yet to set foot on – an alien space where an unfamiliar and extravagant character entertains audiences while starring in heightened, non-existent dramas of its own making.
// sometime during the 1980s, I read in the paper that an international carrier pigeon competition had taken place in Greece
// we're talking international teams of carrier pigeons
// they set off from Northern Greece and flew over the Aegean to their final destination
// our southernmost island – Crete
// as the pigeons flew over the Aegean islands, hunters mistook them for turtledoves and shot them out of the sky
// it was a massacre
// a massacre, I tell you!
// three hundred pigeons set out
// how many do you think made it to Crete?
// fifteen to twenty!
// so I got to thinking…
// why hasn't anyone done anything for these pigeons?
// why hasn't an artist done something to honour the memory of these pigeons?
// hmm?
// an ode to the pigeons lost over the islands of the Aegean Sea…
VENUS I & II // 2013-14 // photo by Natalia Bougadellis
// where & when
VENUS I
GREECE // ATHENS // 4daysstand Queer Festival [1] – artist-occupied Embros Theatre // 10 May 2013
VENUS II
GREECE // ATHENS // 4daysstand Queer Festival [2] – artist-occupied Embros Theatre // 10 May 2014
// project info
VENUS I & II // 2013-14
// solo work-in-progress presentations
// 30 minutes
conceived, directed & performed by // Euripides Laskaridis
directorial consultant // Tatiana Bre
costume design // Angelos Mentis
dramaturgy consultant // Alexandros Mistriotis
artistic collaborator // Simos Patieridis
camera operators // Marios Sergios Eliakis, Kyriacos Karseras & Dimitris Triandafyllou
produced by // the OSMOSIS performing arts company [GR]
special thanks to // Dimitris Papaioannou
