The invitation read Mesogeion Avenue 59, 9:30 p.m. Rushing a bit and with the help of Google Maps, we arrived at Porta Theatre. Despite my usual aversion to small theatre stages, the theatre’s red seats and the pitch-black backdrop on stage—two of my favorite colors—quickly bonded me with the space.

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The lights slowly dimmed, and the last audience members tiptoed to their seats, assisted by the usher. At a time in my life when everything demands change with manic urgency, the frenzy of Athens often suffocates me—the sudden noises, the commotion, the smog, the shoving in the metro. Silence was something I was likely subconsciously craving.

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For the next 60 minutes, the only sounds heard were those of bodies in contact, notes from a flute and clarinet, drumbeats and cries, and, in the end, a powerful round of applause. The performance Silence Speaks by Dhanedra Kawade, staged by the HIPPO theatre group, had already begun, with one of the lead performers standing motionless, patient, and proud on stage.

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That’s how I quickly connected with the theme of the work: loss. Its originality makes this performance both unique and demanding. I was pleased to see that the Greek audience responded positively to physical theatre. The play by Indian writer Dhanedra Kawade is being presented on stage for the first time, and by an international group of artists led by the world-renowned Malaysian dancer Tony Yap.

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The group describes the work as an experiential, non-verbal body performance. Indeed, the body takes the lead—and the final word. When it awakens, the soul follows, and when it succumbs and collapses, so does the soul. The body leads. The body produces sound, energy—driven by a powerful force: emotion.

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Focusing on loss and the ways in which humans experience it—the stages through which body and soul pass from the moment of realization to the release of pain—this performance functions therapeutically, undoubtedly for the performers but also for the viewer.

As a spectator with personal experience in psychoanalytic therapy, I experienced this theatrical work as a means of expressing the inner needs and desires of my body. Our body knows. Our body remembers. And ultimately, our body responds.

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Through physical expression—without speech, only with inarticulate cries and the sounds of bodies colliding with each other or the stage floor—the artists explore various emotional states.

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And ultimately, what is loss?

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Loss is a broad web that spans every aspect of our lives; anything you have can, at any moment, be consigned to the "lost." Death is always first—because from the moment of birth, the terror of death follows us. What you have—life—can (and eventually will) be lost. But in living, we also experience other emotions: love, passion, and with separation, the loss of the Other.

Beyond that, loss is tied to things we have or once had—youth, balance, security—states that always bring the Self to the forefront:

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I hurt.
I grieve.
I have lost.
I seek.
I endure.
I overcome.

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The performance Silence Speaks presents the grieving process of a person on all levels through the lens of Eastern philosophy.

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I want to dwell further on the theme of the play in connection with the choice of a wordless, physical performance. Loss has no words. Loss is experienced as a deep rupture in the soul and body. From the very first scenes, you swear you can hear that crack—a heart breaking.

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The actors’ bodies, as narrative instruments, confess what speech cannot express. The whispers, the words of others, the others themselves and us—how each person influences our path and how we ultimately experience loss, and everything else, in relation to the Other. Balance is lost, regained, and sometimes lost again.

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The choreography, in harmony with the music, defines the emotional register of the performance and consequently the feelings evoked in the audience. The actors’ bodies explode one moment, and the next, curl up in a fetal position, seeking protection.

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A key factor in the performance’s impact is the chemistry and seamless collaboration among the performers. This is a collaborative performance—and aren’t they all?—but in this case, collaboration is even more challenging due to the absence of dialogue; the body speaks instead.

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The performers’ bodies take on this role: attracting or repelling one another. A particularly striking moment (or rather, moments) in the choreography is the solo dance of each performer within a pre-marked section of the stage. When your prison—four chalk lines on a black floor—is drawn by your own hand, and though you could easily escape, you remain stubbornly within those walls, fighting—primitively now—to break free.

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But how many can fit inside a prison?

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Like wild beasts of the forest, Tony Yap, Kalliopi Simou, Heraklis Kotsarinis, Mika Stefanaki, and Anastasia Plelli writhe on stage, expressing their own personal truths. At times, they are apart; at others, they become one body.

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The adaptation and direction are by HIPPO Theatre Group—Alexandros Raptis and Fotis Dousos. Since its founding in 2009, the group’s goal, as stated by its founders, has been mobility and communication with the audience—something achieved exceptionally well in Silence Speaks.

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“With Silence Speaks, we aim to reposition theatrical action within its sacred, pre-linguistic framework.”
— Alexandros Raptis, Fotis Dousos

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The performers flood the stage, using every square meter, and with Tony Yap’s distinctive choreography, manage to convey the work’s message to the audience. Yap, a renowned figure in the field, has long been dedicated to this kind of theatre and improvisation. Having traveled from Australia and China to Denmark, Yap brings his experience to the stage, shares it with his fellow performers, and leads this dance toward catharsis.

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Another element used masterfully is light. Lighting designers Apostolis Koutsiannikoulis and Giorgos Panagopoulos create perfect shadows of the performers’ bodies, guiding the viewer’s eyes and highlighting the points that demand our attention.

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And then, there is the music, taking center stage—musician and composer Giorgos Dousos often accompanies, and at times even leads, the actors’ bodies as they pulse to the rhythms of his instruments.

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One more performance in Athens: tomorrow, May 12, at 9:30 p.m., and then a final series in beautiful Thessaloniki: at the foyer of the Society for Macedonian Studies (2 Ethnikis Amynis Street), from May 16 to Sunday, May 19, for four last shows.

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Original article (Greek): https://www.artharbour.gr/politismos/theatro/silence-speaks-theatro-porta/