A family that has been torn apart tries to heal its wounds. The Mother and Father – both fugitives from the atrocities of war, both refugees – return to their burned and ravaged home. All they want is to find what is left of their dead son. He re-enters their lives as a ghostly presence, a witness to events on the battlefields of History, while their daughter struggles to survive in the trenches that line the pavements of a faltering Europe. Surrounding them is a familiar mosaic of dangerous yet absurd individuals who challenge the norms and values of society. It is a world slowly suffocating under the weight of national and social divisions, fragmented by the collapse of values, economic exploitation and inhumanity, but also containing redemption, precariously balanced between ruin and renewal.

Matei Vizniec, Romania's best known and most widely performed contemporary dramatist, has crafted a painfully topical tale about loss and mourning, rootlessness, the refugee experience, and the longing for home. The struggle for survival and a better life is conveyed through moments of high drama infused with touches of humour.

Acclaimed director Varnavas Kyriazis brings the penetrating and stripped-down language of the Romanian-French writer to the Thoc stage for the first time, exploring the interplay between the living and the dead, poetry and prose, and realism and surrealism, to remind us of the importance of our ongoing negotiation with the site of memory. He is assisted by the superb musical themes of Michalis Christodoulidis and a first-class team of actors and creatives.

Performances

Nicosia: Thoc Theatre, Main Stage, Evis Gavriilidis Auditorium
From 15 November 2024
and every Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 6pm.

Tour

Paphos: Markideio Theatre | Saturday 4 January 2025 at 20:30
Larnaca: George Lycourgos Municipal Theatre | Friday 10 January 2025 at 20:30 Limassol: Rialto Theatre | Wednesday 15 January 2025 at 20:30