ISLANDS  / Islas / Inseln / ΝΗΣΟΣ - watch a preview

Paradise or prison? What does it mean to live on an island?

Two young European women are sunbathing on a beach in Tenerife when they find the body of an African woman washed up on the shore beside them. Nothing can ever be the same again. Follow Joanne and Sabine as their interweaving stories cross borders and touch the lives of others, wherever they go. Discover beauty at the heart of sadness and absurdity in the mundane as you are taken on a journey from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland to Aphrodite's Rock in Cyprus, in search of island identities.

Inspired by their work on Robert Lepage's magnum opus Lipsynch, four of Europe's most outward-looking theatre companies have collaborated on a wry and scorching look at contemporary Europe. With an original and evocative music score and state-of-the-art visuals, Islands is a truly new theatre adventure.

Islands is a new and original piece of theatre to be written and created collaboratively by Théâtre Sans Frontières (UK), Teatro Tamaska (Canary Islands), Theater Wahlverwandte (Germany) and Persona Theatre Company (Cyprus). Three of the companies involved in the project are based on islands on the margins of Europe and the fourth is from Berlin, which was an 'island' metaphorically during the Cold War. In devising this piece of theatre, we wanted to explore the question 'What does it mean to live on an island in Europe?'

During the Islands tour, we collected thoughts from the audience on what an island meant to them and incorporated them into a display which was on view in the foyers of the venues we visited.

Cast:
Fernando               Carlos Belda (Canary Islands)
Sabine                    Silke Buchholz (Germany)
Robert                    John Cobb (UK)
Joanne                   Becky Jameson (UK)
Pambos                 Diomedes Koufteros (Cyprus)
Michael                  Hans Piesbergen (Germany)
Rosa                      Josefa Suárez (Canary Islands)

Director                  Franziska Schütz (Germany)
Designer                Jane Heather (UK)
Composer              Juan Belda (Canary Islands)
Lighting Design      Mark Pritchard (UK)
Video Artist             Nicoleta Kalatha (Cyprus)