THIRST, 2023
"One drop, just one drop…Water is taught by thirst.”
What would it be like if, instead of turning on the faucet, we needed to have weather on our side and travel miles by boat to be able to drink a few sips of water? What would it be like if we maintained such a close relationship with nature and earth that its blooming became our blooming, that its thirst became our thirst?
“Thirst” by Ohi Pezoume/UrbanDig Project is an electronic musical about the odyssey of transporting water to an isolated island community. An allegory on the evolution of our relationship with drinking water: from water as a precious gift to water as a given(?) consumer product.
Drawing from the true story of a family living on an Aegean Island in the recent past, the performance attempts to connect human thirst with the thirst of the earth and the will of men with that of nature. Drought, elements of nature and a “tank-boat” compose a story of deprivation, which touches upon the thirst of man and earth, through realistic and psychedelic images. A poetic, musical-kinetic "delirium" that orchestrates the sun, the sea, the wind, the earth and the precious fresh water in a story of confronting the real and the imaginary thirst of men.
The text by Panagiota Pantazi and the original music by Thanos Kosmidis coexist with soundscapes created by the sound artist Ludwig Berger from the sounds of underground and surface waters, dry soil and dry plants of Sifnos. Irini Alexiou choreographs and Giorgos Sahinis directs a group of actors, singers and dancers.
This performance is the second part of a new stylistic and thematic module of multi-layered music-dance performances by Ohi Pezoume / UrbanDig Project, which narrate "water stories" on theatrical stages - briefly breaking with the group's tradition of creating and presenting performances mainly in public and non-theatrical spaces.
Performers: Eirini Alexiou, Calliope Gerakianaki, Charis Dimos, Ioanna Lekka
Director: George Sachinis
Choreography: Eirini Alexiou
Script: Panagiota Pantazi
Music: Thanos Kosminis
Soundscape: Ludwig Berger
Theater props-Costumes: Anna Magoulioti
Lighting: Lia Michali
Research & Production Management: Katerina Protonotariou
Communication direction: Angeliki Zervou
Video & Photo: Christos & Alekos Bourelias (Archlabyrinth)
Assistant in choreography: Eve Ganneau
Concept/dramaturgy: Eirini Alexiou Thanos Kosminis, Anna Magoulioti, Panagiota Pantazi, Katerina Protonotariou, George Sachinis
The performance is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Swiss Arts Council ProHelvetia.
The sound research and recording was carried out in Sifnos as part of the STARTS4Water project of the STARTS-Science, Technology & Arts program of the European Commission.
