A surreal black comedy-thriller
Peta Lilly, who has performed her successful one-woman show «Topless» twice in Athens, is back, this time to direct a Greek cast in her play «Blame.» Born in Australia, and based in Britain for the past 20 years, Lilly has wide experience in almost every aspect of theater: writing, acting, directing and teaching. She talked to Kathimerini English Edition about «Blame» and the kind of theater she enjoys doing. Pithy issues «Blame» is «a black comedy-thriller; it’s absurd and surreal,» says Lilly, «and based on what I think are quite pithy issues.» Husband and wife Tim and Eddie, who are both having a career crisis, are on holiday in the Australian desert during a heat wave. They are already strained and tense, when a young woman covered in blood suddenly appears, and their relationship is pushed to the limit. The idea for the play came from reading «Look Back in Anger.» Lilly has always been interested in telling stories from the female point of view. Her first play was a treatment of the events in Shakespeare’s «Macbeth,» told from the viewpoint of the Porter’s daughter. In «Blame,» as in her other plays, she has used her own life: «This is something that I’ve been doing for the last 20 years: Using, transforming, things that have perplexed me in my life. That’s what theater’s about – these problems that get worked out on the arena of this stage space. So it’s about power, it’s about betrayal, it’s about lies, it’s about grudges from the past, it’s about revenge, and it’s about this mad reversal. There’s an S&M mask involved. What can we say? Things get a bit dangerous for Tim – put it that way.» The Greek connection The connection with Greece came through Katerina Daskalaki, whom Lilly taught at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama. «Katerina liked what I was doing. She’s set up workshops twice, and produced ‘Topless’ twice in Athens, and that’s all been done very successfully. She’s someone whose imagination works like mine, who’s got a bold spirit in terms of wanting to make things happen.» Lilly enjoys working with her Greek cast: «The actors I’m working with are very focused and committed.» But Greek working hours come as something of a surprise to someone used to the London stage: «I found myself holding an audition at two in the morning, which was a first.» Lilly is passionate about the audience, «about invigorating and enlivening people. I think what is necessary in the world at the moment is pleasure, fun, and spectacle. Theater’s a place where the visceral emotions are what need to be served. I hope people will enjoy seeing this new style.» Cast and crew «Blame» is written and directed by Peta Lilly, translated by Katerina Daskalaki, who performs alongside Vassilis Samolis and Klairi Christopoulou. Set and costumes are by Christina Kostea, lighting by Lefteris Pavlopoulos, and music by Asmund Skuterud. «Blame» premieres Monday, April 1 at the Apo Michanis Theater, Akadimou 13, Metaxourgeio, at 9.15 p.m., and will appear Mondays and Tuesdays for the following four weeks. Tel. 010.523.5716. «Blame» premieres Monday, April 1 at the Apo Michanis Theater, Akadimou 13, Metaxourgeio, at 9.15 p.m., and will appear Mondays and Tuesdays for the following four weeks. Tel. 010.523.5716.
