AVERSION

– Director’s Programme Note

Phaedra, in her original Greek incarnation, was a tragic aside to the story of Hippolytus, the object of her doomed passion. In the 17th Century, the French playwright Racine gave her centre-stage: her faithful maid Oenone struggled through plots and schemes to find a reason for Phaedra to live in the face of an overpowering fixation on Hyppolytus which could find no resolution. The consequences were fatal for all concerned.

Now nervousystem look for a way for “Fader” (Phaedra) to overcome her objectifaction of “Him” (Hippolytus), and “Onanon” becomes the mirror she must endure and abjure, exorcise, silence and ultimately accept…so that she can live.

AVERSION is a further step in nervousystem’s foray into an alternative, impulse-based theatre language. It is an attempt to create a greater space for the audience’s imaginative and sensory participation. This is facilitated through the detailed juxtaposition of alternate organic elements, allowing ‘windows’ for the spectator’s associations.

The actors are performing real actions in real time. There is no attempt on their part to play a fiction. The fiction is revealed through the mise-en scene and interpreted by the spectator/witness. This, it is hoped, will allow you the audience as individuals to find your own story (or stories) and your own authentic experience.

AVERSION is set in the present – tonight in a chapel.

Aiden Condron – Director