Denise Stephenson
Actor/ Writer/ Comedian
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.