Interview
Anna Kalaitzidou: The two brothers together is the most important part of the project.
Anna Kaleitzidou talks to me about the "Crocodile Terror" and the scars it has left on her and her sister. A show about the patriarchy that unfortunately still prevails nowadays, given through surreal elements, black comedy and thriller. She also talks to me about the way people live with their traumas and she doesn't fail to mention how happy she feels to be working with Syremo Keke again.
It is the story of the reunion of two brothers in order to cast out the evil spirit of the past. There are twists and turns within the play but I think it's a journey towards their liberation together. There is significance in the play and together for me personally. It's something that they achieve together.
Tell me about the relationship between the two brothers.
They are two abused girls who grew up in a very difficult home. They were violently separated because the house burned down and the younger sister took responsibility and as a result she was put in jail, so they were separated for many years. Coming out of it and thinking that their father has died, he returns home but meets a changed sister. The years that passed formed two completely different personalities. One has become quite conservative and reserved while the other, due to prison, has become tougher and more rebellious. But as it is revealed along the way, this union brings their true selves back to the surface.
Despite all their contradictions, does one seek the company of the other?
I find that each thinks of the other quite protectively. The way they went about their lives was as if each did their best to protect the other. That's the impression I get. I certainly understand that there is a great deal of relief at their meeting that just takes time to manifest.
Comment on the coexistence of all these elements that we find in the play such as surrealism, the political element, black comedy and horror.
This is a success for the author who of course chose a very central model that is ideal to fit all this in, which is the family where there is nothing more surreal than it. More political, more frightening, I say that because in family ties there is this uniqueness of extreme expressions of emotion with extreme changes. We can be arguing in one moment and suddenly without having to go through all the things that we would have to go through in another relationship everything is the same as it was before. The surreal part is put in, in my opinion, so that the black comedy can exist because otherwise we would be talking about a thriller or something else.
Talk to me about the way the two sisters heal their wounds.
They don't seem to have healed their wounds. They're two girls who are definitely quite disturbed. As each has gone to "extreme" lengths to heal. I think together is the way to heal their wounds. Because in addition to being personal, it's a shared trauma.
How is your collaboration with Syremo?
I feel nothing but joy for my collaboration with Syremo because I feel that I have a partner who is 100% there and looks me straight in the eye because unfortunately it's not so often that someone plays with you with such generosity. It's necessary but it's not a given. Also when the other person is so open and free it opens up the field so that the project can always be negotiated and open so that new things can come out, because since it started precisely because we have this open channel between us we have found so many new things about how one thing is driven from here to there. We discover a lot during the performances.
Would you like to talk to me about the trauma healing process?
Trauma in this particular case is easy to understand because we are talking about abuse. The healing process thankfully there is psychotherapy and what I have come to understand from my own therapy is that it doesn't exactly heal you just acknowledge the source of the impact it has on you and don't get scared. So you make peace with it and you know where it comes from. Somehow you soften it but still the trauma doesn't go away.
The photo is from the show.
Photo credit: Patroclus Skafidas