The “Hour of the Devil” by Fernando Pessoa, one of the greatest figures of 20th century literature, is transferred on stage. A story that combines poetry and prose with mastery, an attribute that remains unchanged in the Greek version of the play.
Giorgos Hraniotis is the Devil, a satyr trying to seduce his Maria (Tina Leonora) as well as his audience- us- in a feast full of dance, music, alcohol and eroticism. Balancing between drama and comedy, one moment a Dark Demon and another, a playful little devil raving with philosophical approach, asking fundamental questions about Life and at the same time finding his own truth in them.
The Devil is good, handsome, imperfect, sarcastic and charming. The Devil is everything we have been wishing for but will never acquire. The Devil triggers our imagination. The Devil is me, the Devil is you. Together and alone…(Giorgos Hraniotis)
Maria (Tina Leonora), a name with religious references is also balancing between a pure Madonna and a sensual Mary Magdalene, letting the Devil seduce her in his paranoid game. During the play, it’s almost impossible to figure out whether this Maria is a loving mother figure or a libidinous Woman that pleasantly gives in Temptation.
Maria is a Woman. It is not by chance that F.Pessoa chose this name…It’s an allegory. He teases the Devil the same way he teases his Maria. As a Woman, she has two contrasting sides. God and Devil. Maria is a light beam trembling in the darkness of her Demon’s soul. She’s enchanted by him in an almost hypnotizing way and decides to follow him only to discover that his darkness is just a mask and beneath it, many other faces and aspects are hiding. Maria is just this magic, mysterious and valuable ingredient. She is the Love that makes even Devil himself, a higher being, in a place filled with Light. Besides knowing that we know absolutely nothing, somehow Love makes us understand everything (Tina Leonora)
A play full of intense moments, contradictions in both the performances and its technical means (music, choreography, projections). A tango of power and submission with Tom Waits singing. A romantic night under the moonlight listening to Moon River by Andy Williams…In a few words, a seductively paranoid and playfully dark play, with many truths about Life and Death, where Good and Evil lose their meaning as defined by human religions, making us wander…What is the real Truth?
Also published at ThinkFree Magazine
Μαρία Ελένη Βασιλειάδη 