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Handan Salta ///OGGI NIENTE.. Today is nothing…
İlyas Odman as the choreographer, light designer and performer of the dance theatre titled “Oggi Niente ;Today Nothing” introduces us to a lover who mourns over a lost love. Inspired by a poem of Pavese, this theatre performance takes its audience to a journey back to life passing through separation, death, sorrow, loneliness, contemplation on time and the pace of our lives.
The performer comes onto the bare stage out of the dark and sets alarm clocks on the edges of a rectangular area where he is going to perform in. He is accompanied by the lights being switched on one by one. Later on, he tells the audience what is going to happen on stage; “ First I will BE the story of a couple/ then I will TELL you the story of that couple/ and in the end I will SING THE SONG of that couple/ Listen to the story carefully and do not let me forget about it!” He does indeed. Although it looks simple when told this way Oggi Niente is powerfully charming on stage for many reasons.
The first charming aspect of the performance is the unconventional expression of the pain, loss and mourning; the body language is infallibly direct though not commonplace.
Odman comes on the stage with only his pants on; his being half naked is the first implication of his vulnerability. His thin, fragile look is so suitable with the story he is going to tell. Odman’s body is transparently expressive to display the unhappy, sorrowful soul suffering in all cells. Furthermore the way he displays this sorrow is unconventionally and strikingly plain. He screams silently, he keeps quiet audibly loud; the cramps of the pain he is suffering are flesh and bone and all these are transmitted to the audience so powerfully. Another exceptional point is that the violence he is exposed to is directed to him again; his body is the only instrument through which he can experience, test and express this pain. Within the lines of the poem he repeatedly recollects, he makes his body subjected to the pain the poem connotes.
The fact that you can not figure out if he was searching for this plain way of expression or he found it out accidentally, is the indication of this carefully designed choreography/dramaturgy.
Repetitions serve an aim; they invite you to stop and think in this fast moving world of video clip perception.
Odman cites the following poem repeatedly, questioning the meaning each time; and every time a line is repeated you come across with another level of frustration, disillusionment, objection, disbelief, denial and rebellion during and about different phases of a relationship. In a world where nobody has time to stop for a moment to look back and think, these repetitions startle you at first, then you get into the world of the poem as you slow and cool down.
"there is a shiny sun
there is a tree
and we are two of us
standing near to each other
You are whispering to me
"we are the happiest couple of this world "
We are standing under the tree and staring at the sun…
And I say… “hug me”
there was a shiny sun
there was a tree
annding near to each other,
On of them whispered to ht eother,
thast they were the happiest couple of that world.
They were standing under the tree and staring at the sun…
and the other said nothing…
don’t you feel anything?"
When the story teller, Odman, recites the poem and displays how he feels/ felt upon each line, the audience is pulled back to the same line in a way and forced to listen and rethink these lines while watching an angry, disillusioned young lover to discover that words might mean more when they are listened attentively.
In this token he challenges the perception of the audience. He manipulates the audience to be more alert on what is going to happen on stage soon by asking them not to let him forget about the story and that makes him more audible and visible. He does not let himself be forgotten like the images we see and forget in hundreds of video clips, advertisements, photographs every day. This challenge brings its own reward as well; when you are exposed to a repetition of the same sentence, same movement you see that how much your feelings and perception could change to your amazement. This is a performance where you are going to see a slow moving, slow consuming, slow images having strong influence.
Two texts are intertwined.
Sarah Kane’s text 4.48 Psychosis as the background voice accompanies the poem above and the two are amalgamated in the performer’s body. Painful, sorrowful, bleeding tone in Kane’s crying subtext paves the way for the poem and Odman’s craving; he internalizes those two texts. He points out that regardless of your gender or nationality you can suffer, fall in love and get disappointed in a similar way. Words and perspectives of both Kane and Pavese are materialized in Odman’s body.
Not only Kane and Pavese but also local.
Still, the performer’s mourning has been added a local colour; according to tradition, the deceased one’s shoes are put in front of the door in the name of the deceased. That is supposed to be the last charity the dead one will do -with the hope that a poor person will find them. Odman wears a second pair of shoes in his hands; he tries to find a place for his lost one’s shoes which won’t fit anyone anymore. Finally, when he gives in and persuaded that the loved one is really gone, he leaves them on the edge of the area he framed in the middle of the stage. Those deserted looking pair of shoes look very much alike the mourner; they are both sad to look at and remind you either a childhood memory or a helpless moment.
Rethinking and manipulating time rather than being manipulated by it
Our perception of the universe where we try to exist despite acknowledging the time limit is twisted in this performance. The everlasting pressure of time is challenged by the performer; time/god/ super power/ destiny/ time manager -or whatever we call it- does not determine the time here. On the contrary, the performer invites the audience to join him in his journey to the repetition of the lines, meditating on the issue of death and separation when he is stealing some moments from the tyranny of time. When he comes to the end of the time he set for himself, he leaves the stage even without saying that our lives consist of our own choices.
Oggi Niente- Today is Nothing leaves many different tastes after digestimg, it goes without saying that some of them are really surprising. On one side sorrow is experienced and displayed to its peak. However, manipulation of the audience and the approach towards time is ironically opposite to mourning. Being very young and fresh in nature, this performance offers an alternative to handle situation so helpless, hopeless like death and separation. The look of a suffering body on stage turns into a symbol that Odman is continuously trying to break with his rebellious approach. The overall colour or taste of the performance could be traced in the clashing looks of the mourner and the rebel, the competition between grief and hope, weakness and strength.
"About the phenomenon of theatre"
The articles of the 29th Fajr International Theatre Festival have been published as a book entitled "About the phenomenon of theatre". Compiled by Nasrollah Ghaderi the work was released with the cooperation of Katayoon Hussein zadeh and Ali Najafi.
IBNA: Talking about the book, Katayoon Hussein zadeh said:" Most of the articles are about documentary theatre, political theatre, the formation of political theatre and its process."
She added:" Every writer has presented his work according to the art in his country. The article's analytic information is incredible. Such a kind of book was not released in Iran so far."
Moreover she said that the book will be distributed in Europe's Theatre Festival, which will be held in Russia, to enjoy international aspects.
The book holds English and French articles.
The English section holds articles including "Idioms of South Asian theater" by Abhi Subedi which was translated by Amir Amjad, "At the cress-roads" by Andrzej Zurowski, translated by Katayoon Hussein zadeh, "OGGI NIENTE.. Today is nothing" by Handan Salta translated by Katayoon Hussein zadeh, "The theatre and economics, the British experience" by John Elsom, translated by Amir Amjad, "Broadway and race" by Jeffery Eric Jenkins, translated by Katayoon Hussein zadeh, "Chinese women's liberation road on the stage" by Dr. Zhu Ning, translated by Amir Amjad, "Enchanted by the BRAVE festival" by Kalina Stefanova, translated by Katayoon Hussein zadeh, "Slovenian drama as the globalization's litmus test" by Kristof Jacek kozak, translated by Amir Amjad, "The importance of being obedient" by Matti Linnavuori, translated by Katayoon Hussein zadeh.
"Where is the emerging point in today's Swedish performing arts" by Margareta Sorenson, translated by Amir Amjad, "The Barbican international theatre event in London" by Maria Shevtsova, translated by Amir Amjad, "The national theatre of Scotland- a theatre without walls" by Mark Brown, translated by Amir Amjad, "Theatre of revolution-history, theatre, document and life" by Petr Christov, translated by Katayoon Hussein zadeh, "Two Lithuanian Hamlets: The metaphysics of ice and mirrors" by Ramune Marcinkeviciute, translated by Katayoon Hussein zadeh, "Reorientalism" by Randy Gener, translated Amir Amjad, "Who will be the king or directors' merciless fight for power against playwright in the European theatre" by Sanja Nikcevic, translated by Amir Amjad, "National critics and the postmodern world: bridging the gap" by Savas Patsalidis, translated by Amir Amjad, "The community sensitive theatre maker" by Tamas Jaszay, translated by Amir Amjad, "Contemporary performance or whatever happened to the performative revolution" by Tomaz Toporisic, translated by Amir Amjad, "The burden of existence" by Tomasz Milkowski, "The critical reception of Eastern/ Central European theater in Korea since 1989 by Yun-Cheol Kim, translated by Amir Amjad and "European theatre 2000-2010" by Ian Herbert, translated by Katayoon Hussein zadeh.
The articles of the 29th Fajr International Theatre Festival have been published as a book entitled "About the phenomenon of theatre". The work is released in 2000 copies by Namayesh. The book is released in English, Persian and French.
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