**Surreal Theater Experience at GIFT Festival**
The Georgian International Festival of Arts in Tbilisi (GIFT) showcased a unique theater experience with Euripides Laskaridis‘s “Lapis Lazuli“. This performance broke the boundaries of conventional theater, captivating audiences with its surreal, multi-sensory journey.
**A Metaphor for Identity and Resilience**
The show explores the symbolic richness of the lapis lazuli stone, also known as the “Stone from Heaven”, to contrast earthly resilience with celestial fragility. The performance suggests that human identity is both enduring and unpredictable, like the stone’s internal fractures. The theater space becomes a place where contradictions and surprises unfold without logic or linearity.
**Blurring Realities**
A standout scene features a werewolf figure clutching an oversized pink seahorse, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. This use of pataphysical comedy creates an image that is both humorous and unnerving. The performance pushes beyond typical theater boundaries into a space where imagination reigns supreme.
**Cross-Cultural Collaboration**
The physicality of the performance, grounded in tangible materials, encourages audiences to experience theater as an intimate and direct encounter with art. The “handmade” approach celebrates imperfection and transience, lending authenticity to the production.
**Emotional Connection**
Laskaridis stated that his performance is designed to appeal to our hearts, not minds. By rejecting clarity and linearity, the show allows viewers to engage on an emotional level, experiencing the strangeness of Laskaridis’s world as they would a dream – disjointed, confusing, yet ultimately resonant.
**Pataphysical Theater**
Lapis Lazuli exemplifies Laskaridis’s pataphysical approach to theater, defying conventional analysis. In a time when much contemporary theater leans toward abstraction and minimalism, his work is a vibrant counterpoint. This duality enables the show to resonate with viewers on multiple levels.
**A Transformative Experience**
The performance closed with applause from the audience at Marjanishvili Theater, a testament to Lapis Lazuli’s ability to captivate, perplex, and ultimately transform. In an era where theater often seeks to impart meaning through seriousness and intellectual rigor, Laskaridis’s work stands out for its joyful embrace of the absurd.
**A Mirror to Human Experience**
In the end, Lapis Lazuli does more than entertain; it changes us. Like the lapis lazuli stone, the performance exerts its own kind of pressure on its viewers, prompting us to reflect on our own transformations and capacity for change under life’s challenges.