PERFORMANCES
Back to Budejovice
A war-stricken land. A remote village. An isolated inn by the river. After a long time, a man returns from a cozy and sunny place to his destroyed hometown to meet his widow mother and his sister. The two women running the inn, live in total isolation from the rest of the world, and they murder and rob their few clients. When they fail to recognize him, he decides to pretend to be a client looking for a room to spend the night. A dark silent story about the exile of human existence, with the accompaniment of live piano and percussion music.
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A silent noir drama based on the theatrical play “Misunderstanding” by Albert Camus. Art Vouveau gets inspired by the genre Film noir of the 40s and 50s. The director Camilo Bentancor includes the use of expressive masks and as a result a startling and peculiar world is introduced onstage. The four actors, surrounded by a mysterious atmosphere that is created by live piano and percussion music, narrate, without the use of speech, a dark story impregnated with the philosophy of Albert Camus.
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PERFORMANCES
Back to Budejovice
CREDITS
Adaptation: Art Vouveau Theatre Company
Director: Camilo Bentancor
Set designer: Camilo Bentancor
Costume designer: Despoina Makarouni
Composer: John Selekos
Lighting designer: Costas Margas
Masks designers: Alfredo Iriarte, Camilo Bentancor
Comic book illustrator: Manolis Almpanis
Piano: John Selekos
Percussion instruments: George Smak
Actors:
Afroditi Kleovoulou,
Thanasis Megalopoulos,
Phivos Symeonidis,
Danai Tikou
A comic book based on the theatre play was created by the illustrator Manolis Almpanis that is also used as the theatrical play booklet.
The comic book design follows the play very closely: scenography, costumes, individual gestures, the expressive masks and Camilo Bentancors’ directorial frame, all were sketched on paper with high fidelity. This gives the comic book a documentary aspect as well as an artistic one since ideas present in the play are either enhanced or stretched to their expressive limits through the medium of illustration. Thus, the comic book is both interactive with the lived experience of viewing the play but at the same time it stands by itself as an independent visual experience of sequential art.
❝ …The use of expressive masks. It elevates the silent essence of the play and creates a horror atmosphere, that demonstrates perfectly the philosophy of Albert Camus…❞
A. Batsou, kallitexnes.gr
❝ …the subdued lighting, the time discontinuity, the use of noir archetypes attribute to the play a cinematic dimension; a noir narrative that relates to existentialism.❞
M. Leonidas, koutipandoras.gr
❝ The actors and the musicians impressed us with their expressiveness and precision, their unique talent and stunning performance, offering us an unforgettable experience.❞
Niki Rapti, theathinai.com
CONTACT
Art Vouveau
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