Let’s talk about… theatre

Some people love milk. Others hate it. But everyone should connect with it at Avlaia Theatre.

Georgina and Nancy, however, aren’t holding a glass of milk.

They have a tape recorder in front of them and they are talking to us.

What made you say “yes” to this play at this moment in time?

Georgina: It has been over ten years since I have been thinking about this play. I read it for the first time shortly after its release. When it came to me, I immediately loved it. For years, in fact, I gave it as a gift or lent it for people to read, or when I was having a discussion, I would bring it up as something I wanted to work on.

After the pandemic, because of a play that was shut down at the time, Nancy and I got the urge to work on something together. When I gave her the book, it was the first time that someone was looking at it the same way I did, that understood it in the same way I did, that thought it was funny in the same way I did. At our first reading together, it was the first time I heard someone else read it in the same voice I was reading it in. It was clear that it was the right person at the right time.

Nancy: I love to experiment and, in addition to being part of a theatre company, I like to ask colleagues who I feel I resonate with to collaborate. I don’t know if it has to do with the time period; we are trying to say something, that’s why we get together.

I very much believe that, when two people are really passionate and work on a text, the result will be great- no matter what the play is. Besides, I believe in the concept of “the right” people. If it weren’t for this particular text and this collaboration, it would take a lot more effort, whereas now everything is very easy.

All conversations move within the sense and limits of absurdity- a little bit of logic and a little bit of absurdity. Is the purpose of the play to lead to a logical conclusion or perhaps to maintain this sense of absurdity?

G: I don’t think that the playwright cares about being called irrational. In fact, Nancy and I paid more attention in some parts of the play than he did, or we think that we saw something which he hadn’t written with that purpose in mind. We find ourselves in the process of asking ourselves “what does the poet mean?” and even he doesn’t have an answer.

So, I don’t think that Efthimis Filippou has written this text with the intention of it being deliberately absurd or having the audience trying to decipher what he means. Having read it so many times by now, I think that it isn’t absurd at all. It seemingly wants to be, but in the end, it feels more like a dinner party with your friends: if you observe through the lens of a camera, you’ll realize that you go from one topic to another without having a flow. But you have actually developed your code of communication.

With Nancy, we have figure out why it goes from one topic to another, however in the end I don’t think it matters whether it is absurd or not.

N: Recently, I watched an interview with Efthimis Filippou, in which it was mentioned that he is a “surreal” playwright; “surreal” was a nice word. I don’t think it is absurd, because in reality we talk about normal events in people’s lives: about Easter, how to style your hair… Why should these be absurd?

Perhaps the result is absurd, because there is inconsistency, since the topic is constantly changing. However, even now in this interview the topic keeps changing according to the questions. So why not even consider that these people are being asked questions and we only hear their answers on stage?

We set our minds on irrational because we consider something else rational. It’s true, the play has no continuity, but it does have a beginning, middle part and end; it doesn’t lack an ending or leave the audience unsatisfied. So, maybe it isn’t so absurd after all.

The play made us laugh, but there are many references to death, violence and even profanity. Do you think that all this “absurdity” and humor is the best way to get these issues across more bluntly?

G: Humor for me is the only answer. It is also the way I choose to get on with my life. At my most difficult times, I choose it or seek it from those around me.

What captivated me from the beginning in this play is how it handles very dark issues using humor artfully. I think that humor helps you rationalize with whatever darkness you are facing. If you deal with it with humor, you kind of humanize it, diminish its value, and make it more manageable.

I think that one of the most magical elements of the text is how it uses humor as a response to the darkness and shadows of life.

N: I think the existence of humor is connected to the “incident”. We see these people talking because of something has happened. There is a reason they are at that place. Humor is used purely for this incident, not to smooth over violence or darkness. They don’t use sarcasm to disguise violence, but to disguise reality.

The entire play takes place inside a pastry shop/ café. Could it have taken place anywhere else?

G: It could have taken place anywhere, but for some reason Efthimis Filippou chooses a pastry shop. It’s the place where he feels safe to share everything and a reference point- I guess- for his whole life. Since we are talking about a pastry shop/ café, it isn’t strictly one thing; it is a place that out all your senses. Maybe it is a hint to certain habits of the character.

N: Sure, it could have taken place anywhere, but there is indeed a reason Efthimis Filippou chooses this pastry shop. In fact, we have thought that it is about a nice pastry shop in Kifisia, where we had our photoshoot. However, the characters in the play might not have been concerned at all about their surroundings.

Your stage presence is so synchronized that it raises the question: could this entire play be a monologue?

G: That’s how it is addressed in the title, and that’s how we have treated it. Some people don’t see it that way, but it’s fine, because it’s such a well-written text that there are a million things to identify with, be moved by, empathize with. Ultimately, that’s the importance thing about this text: how it addresses important issues in the “silliest” way, or deeply philosophical ones in the most humorous way.

N: Indeed, this was our process: to go through the text taking turns, without it feeling like a dialogue. Because, essentially, a good conversation for me is just that; it feels like a monologue. A nice conversation exists when you listen without putting in effort, when it’s enough to just be there.

Why did you choose “milk”? Why did you have “milk” in the title?

G: Various people who have seen the play have told us their different interpretations while reading it. But who knows “what the poet means?” Who knows why Efthimis Filippou used it?

What Nancy and I understood is that, because milk symbolizes something childlike, something maternal, it feels like going back to the beginning.; a cycle that closes and we somehow go back to the beginning.

We have heard great interpretations as to what the milk stands for from various people who have seen the play and all of them were interesting possibilities. For us, though, our thought started from here: that it is a great way to mark the beginning and end of a cycle.

N: Milk is something personal for everyone: for us it’s a flashback to our childhood, for someone else it might be something that reminds them of their kids…

Milk takes us back to breastfeeding, to something maternal; milk causes a regression in general- both to thinking of our mother and in the stomach. This regression for me is coded in the title.

What would happen, after all, if you never left the pastry shop?

G: If someone knows the text and the play, this question is deeply philosophical, and the playwright uses it as an allegory. There’s a great song that summarizes the key phrase of the whole play… but let’s not reveal it yet.

N: The truth is that there are two sides. Literally, let’s say they would have a great time, because they would have each other, they would talk all the time, they would laugh… The metaphorical aspect is a bit different. But let’s wait for people to tell us when they see the play!

Some people love milk. Others hate it. But surely everyone should connect woth it at Avlaia Theatre.

Georgina and Nancy will hold a glass of milk in their hands for three more performances.

And they’ll tell us everything they’ve been hiding in this interview…