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GILGAMESH

by

Denise Stephenson

There is water in the house

It comes 

Uninvited 

Through the front door

It seeps

Surreptitiously 

Under the walls

And

Pushes 

Rudely 

Up through the sink

And out of the loo

 

The living room is floating

The sofa dances

With the coffee table

The piano 

Makes a getaway 

Through the French windows

The armchairs 

Are coming

Up 

The stairs

 

Family photos drift 

Down the high street

Soft furnishings bob 

Past the post office

A teddy bear 

And someone’s 

Dirty underwear

Are on their way

To Scandinavia

Across lakes which were once

A nice bit of Wiltshire

 

Suburban life is washed away

Friends and families 

Cling together

On rooftops 

In vain

 

Don’t they know 

The ice has melted

The seas are roaring Revenge?

Poseidon has had enough

He’s obliterating 

Our cosy world

 

Oh dear

We forgot to take care

To love and to cherish

To have and to hold

For ever and ever

Till death us do part.

 

 

 

 

GILGAMESH. Two sisters meet again after 30 years as the waters of an apocalyptic flood slowly rise around them. Each carries a suitcase with their essentials for survival, Violet has brought vacuumed packed sandwiches, Ada has tequila, Lady Marmalade and party dresses. What follows is a violent struggle to reconcile their tortured history. 

 

                                                                                               ________________________

 

I met Janet Prince 30 years ago, we have laughed together ever since. Last year we wanted to do a play together so I said ok I’ll write one. England was flooding. I began with two women forced together, a kind of prison of a space, something began to tumble out, an old betrayal cut deep in my flesh, the loss of my sister to madness and death, a confrontation within made real on stage. I told Jan I written us a little comedy.

 

Our designer, Mayou has worked a lot with site specific theatre and film.

We have two directions for the design: a suspended raft that hovers above ground, with the characters trapped on it, providing a metaphorical space. It is an idea that we feel strong on exploring.

The second direction is the creation of a negative acting space using drops of transparent material, giving the impression of time standing still, as in the violent glass waves below.

Finally we are still exploring the use of projection. 

 

The Company

 

Denise Stephenson, writer, actor.

Lispa and LAMDA trained. Gilgamesh is my third play. ‘Stand Up and Be Counted’ a play for four actors, was performed in Edinburgh in 2011 and a TV script version was performed in London in 2012.  I wrote a solo piece ‘Pentimento' in 2014 and performed it at the Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Festival, I will be touring it later this year and performing in New York in 2016.

I have written several short stories and poems.

My acting CV can be found on this website.

 

Janet Prince, actor.

International New York Fringe award winner for solo show 'Murder Margaret and Me' which has toured the UK, New York and Mexico and Edinburgh First Fringe winner 2011 for 'Real Babies Don't Cry' by Stewart Permutt.

http://daamanagement.co.uk/clients_detail.asp?id=319

 

Mayou Trikerioti,  designer

One of Greece's most established theatre designers, working at all the major theatres and festivals including the National Theatre in Athens and at the Young Vic and Riverside Studios.

Since 2007 Mayou has designed feature and short films that have travelled across the globe screening at international film festivals, including Venice Film Festival, Berlin and Toronto IFF.

http://www.mayoutrikerioti.com/about/

 

George Siena, director

A Lispa trained performer with over ten years experience in physical theatre and movement based work, he has recently turned to directing, having an MA at East15, assisting Simon Usher and Jemma Gross and studied at the GITIS Academy of Moscow.

As an actor and deviser he has worked for the Greek National Theatre, the Athens Festival, has toured Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Greece, Sweden and the Czech Republic. In London, he has made work at the Riverside Studios, the Young Vic, ENO and the NT Studio, and is currently assistant director on Kelly Hunter's Hamet, Who's There ? He has collaborated with both Denise and Mayou. ‘Gilgamesh' is his directorial debut.

 

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