Original photo by Manuel Harlan-Edited by Anastasia Manou
Words from a quarantined mind, words taken from a very strange time, words of agony, of a man, sick, with a virus we don’t fully understand. But having won this virus, those words have survived, through polluted air, have flown away in the night, and now, a beam of light playing around the dark clouds that are still above us, lights up those words, of a man who reaches the stars, lights up this absolutely terrific experience into the dreamy atmosphere of uncertainty. A beam of hope is hiding behind that stage.
There is nothing that could replace the human beingness, ever. The digital era has found a very good excuse to use its powers now. But the theatrical experience shall not fall here. It is a risk for some audiences as I hear. Does action and reaction still fit into the theatre? The energy spreads faster than anything we can’t and can see, the energy cannot be stopped from a paper mask. Let us keep that energy alive.
And what if, this is a risk? Everything is. We should consider this. Is it a risk taken from both sides? Maybe. Every breath is and only time will tell. For now, I call it a great sacrifice for the one who’s standing up. A live battle against a very highly possible event, talking about another battle, a fight against the true outcome of this event, something around us, maybe next to us, maybe inside us, maybe not. A sacrifice for the arts.
Beat the Devil, the new play by David Hare is now playing at the Bridge Theatre until 31st October.
