LOULLES
A new Cypriot play, produced by Campos Culture and Arts, a rich composition of snapshots from the 1990s, with testimonies of gay men, cringe archival material, Eurovision drag, and distortions of memory.
Description
Through fragments of confidential files, vulnerable personal moments, and the public debate on homosexuality in the media of the time, Loulles sketches the prevailing atmosphere in Cyprus before the decriminalization of homosexuality. With joyful reenactments, layers of memory, and experimental image storyboarding, Loulles deals with the search for personal freedom through struggle, solidarity, fun, and love.
Method
The creative/writing team, consisting of Diomedes Koufteros, Eleni Ioannou, and Nektarios Theodorou, developed the performance using methods from devised and documentary theatre. The monologues were written in Cypriot Greek, verbatim, based on interviews the team conducted with gay men.
The first version of the play was presented in workshop form, as a staged reading, within the residency program theYard.residency.23 of the MITOS Center of Performing Arts, in Spring 2023. Loulles 2 was later presented at Wherehaus 612 in Nicosia, Xydadiko in Limassol, and within Sessions x SPEL, a series of queer actions at the State Gallery of Contemporary Art – SPEL.
Concept – Direction:
Diomedes Koufteros
Performers:
Nektarios Theodorou, Diomedes Koufteros
Projections:
Charalambos Varelias
Writing:
Diomedes Koufteros, Nektarios Theodorou, Eleni Ioannou
Sponsor:
Deputy Ministry of Culture – Department of Contemporary Culture
Supporters:
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation Archive, Accept LGBTI Cyprus, MITOS Center of Performing Arts, Sessions x SPEL
Production:
Campos Culture and Arts
Performance Design:
Eleni Ioannou
— Yiorgos Savvinidis, O Phileleftheros
