FFF5 | Αll that may bleed | Six scenes from Sophocles’ tragedies

Eleven Athenian women, with the instructions of the Swedish director and visual artist Markus Öhrn, form a band and dive into the work of Sophocles, presenting it as a series of seven dark atmospheric theatrical installations. Putting on center stage what is usually hidden, the macabre and grotesque element, the work approaches these plays through the lens of their heroes’ body: The body that experiences history and is crushed by it, a field of extreme violence. The body of the ruler and the weak. The body of the soldier. The body of the rebel and the philosopher.

The halls, designed by Theophil Hansen, are transformed into dark arenas where the eleven women will face the extreme moments of Sophocles’ heroes, presenting six different performances. The spectators will be able to watch the work either live on stage or through video installations within the landscape created by the previous day’s action.

Unexpected choices regarding the work of Sophocles make us rethink on our relationship with ancient tragedy today. What’s acceptable and what’s unacceptable regarding ancient drama and its presentation? How can eleven women, non-professional actresses, reach a stark and extreme expression by the means of these stories? What survives in these plays from the raw, blood-soaked dimension of the folk myth?

“…Hack this body limb from flesh.
And hack off my head. Chop me in pieces,
to save me from the horror of hope...”
("Philoctetes", 1206)