Theo looks back at sixty years of her life from when she was a young woman immigrating to London from Cyprus and attempts to ‘throw the stone behind her’ as she recounts her life with a deceitful husband.Summary
Rating
Good
‘What goes around comes around’ is one of the many different messages we hear in Love in a Foreign Land. When Theo (Elena Hadjiafxendi) arrives in London from Cyprus, she is young and naïve, looking for her husband Andy (Ilias Alexeas) who has been gone for three years. When she finds him, she is shocked to discover that he has not only been unfaithful for the entire time but has deceived her about what it is he has been doing. Hurt and upset, she plans to leave, but then takes him back – only to go through years of a vicious cycle of being hurt by him over and over until she has had enough. However, Theo is not introduced first as a young woman, but rather as an ailing old lady (Lucy Christofi Christy), confined to her armchair in a mental state of agony as she battles the demons of the sins, crimes, hurt, regret and pain she has endured for many years. Is this the fate she deserves?
Writer Maria Vigar and director Anastasia Revi have together created a well-orchestrated production, which flows flawlessly. Vigar’s exceptional writing is rooted in a deeply personal connection with the play. In the programme she writes, “With my mother’s approval, I embarked on writing a story inspired by her. It was not easy.” Being a foreigner herself, Revi is also deeply connected with the work, which is disclosed through her directing style. The stage is often split – suggestive of dislocation – as elder Theo observes her younger self, pleading with her to make better decisions, or sits helplessly by as she is tortured by hardship and heartbreak.
The lighting and music too are cleverly orchestrated and through their technical work fill the play with feelings of nostalgia. Yiannis Katsaris’ lighting design in particular paints the stage and the characters sympathetically as they go through their lives.
Emily Cave’s set is simple, but considered. The audience is transported between 1959 London and Cyprus to the 2010s; yet 60 years seem to occur simultaneously, eras blending as the actors transfix the audience with the feelings and emotions of the characters.
This is an emotionally powerful piece at times. One cannot help but empathise with the pain, anger, regret and heartache Theo and her three children Magda (Mary Rubos), George (Alexander Fragkos) and Annie (Laura de Marchis) have as they long for a better relationship with Andy. One scene in particular has Theo reading a letter from George to Andy, which is recited to the audience by George. Theo and the audience can only sit helplessly as George’s moving feelings are recounted.
The purpose of this production is to show the personal story which Vigar has given to the world. She says that “The play asks how far you would travel for love. What does it mean to be a wife, a mother, a woman, in a foreign land?” Love in a Foreign Land also conveys a message that deeply embedded emotions and a bruised heart are not simply let go through time; that it takes compassion and forgiveness, which can be very difficult to understand, but which are essential to break free of the pain caused by another. The writer hopes that “this play is for anyone and everyone who is part of a family,” where what goes around must come around in the end.
Written by: Maria Vigar
Directed by: Anastasia Revi
Music composed and arranged by: Louis de Bernières
Design by: Emily Cave
Lighting Design by: Yiannis Katsaris
Sound Design by: Hades
Produced by: Martina Reynolds
Assistant Directors: Lydia Vie, Elena Michailidi
Love in a Foreign Land plays at The Playground Theatre until Saturday 12 April.
