Beat the Devil

A COVID confession from, perhaps, the most important living British playwright

By Alpha Square @Rialto Theatre, on April 10
In the framework of the FlashArt2 Rialto Theatre Programme

David Hare has been twice nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe, and has won numerous Awards including BAFTA, Golden Bear, Laurence Olivier, New York Drama Critic’s Circle, Evening Standard, London Theatre Critics, Drama Desk and PEN/Pinter.

On the same day that the UK government finally made the first of two decisive interventions that led to a conspicuously late lockdown (in March 2020), David Hare contracted Covid-19. Nobody seemed to know much about it then, and many doctors are not altogether sure they know much more today. Suffering a pageant of apparently random symptoms, Hare recalls the delirium of his illness, which mixed with fear, dream, honest medicine and dishonest politics to create a monologue of furious urgency and power.

“I don’t have survivor’s guilt. I have survivor’s rage.”

Andreas Araouzos returns to acting in English for this autobiographical persona by Hare and presents this to in a living-room library! He co-directs with Nicos Mylonas, who operates cameras live during performance, to convey the sensation “Screen is King” that now, more than ever, runs our lives. Mylonas also designs the lights, while Lakis Genethlis is dressing set and costume.

As theatre critic Nona Moleski (Phileleftheros, 09/03/2021) notes, Andreas Araouzos returns on stage with an English-speaking performance, entirely identifying with the writer, creating a sense of direct communication with this visionary, furious and courageous playwright, and exploiting the closeness of the audience, yet without addressing the viewer directly.

On Stage. Duration: 40 minutes. In English.

Rialto Theatre - Saturday, 10 April 2021 at 20:00
Tickets: €12 / 10
Rialto Box Office : 77 77 77 45 www.rialto.com.cy, Rialto App