BLINDFOLD: The Night of the Hunt

In the Jury's Inn, just a stone's throw from the sea, is a darkened conference room that played host to one of the weirdest and and incomprehensable shows I've seen.

Performed by Greek company THE.AM.A (Theater for People with Disabilities) the show was an hour and ten minutes of bizarre shouting, inaudible whispering, surreal dancing and some sexually suggestive comments that really seemed out of place with what was otherwise going on.

The projector wasn't strong enough to clearly display the image on the back wall. Luckily it was only required for the beginning, although continued to hum loudly - to the point where it was hard to hear what any of the performers were saying.

However, I'm not convinced being able to hear the dialogue would have greatly improved the experience, which was both confusing and unengaging. I didn't feel at any point I really understood what was happening. The stories seemed to be flicking from one setting or location to another, and maybe even changing characters, but I honestly couldn't tell you if this was really the case.

The show started with a dance that was labouriously slow to get going and then refused to stop. We were then thrust into a scene with writer and director Sofia Stavrakaki, and Vassilis Oikonomou. They discussed being prisoners, forced medication, and marriage. The connections between these topics were nigh on impossible to see.

Despite not being able to understand what was really going on, I cannot fault the passion with which actions were carried out. The delivery was especially emotive, and the actors moved around the stage with purpose and energy.

I am appreciative that English isn't the first language of any of the performers, and credit must be given to the bravery and dedication required to perform a show in a second language. As an native English speaker, it can be too easy to be critical of someone who doesn't fully command the language.

Despite this though, I had a strong dislike towards this piece. It was too abstract, too conceptual, and somewhat ironically, too inaccessible.