In a world full of “fuss” and excessive information, Konstantinos Magnis brings us face to face with the truths we refuse to accept through the “Broken Telephone” he talks about on pelop.gr.
A man who has lost his job is walking aimlessly through the streets of the city and to look busy he is constantly talking on his mobile phone which is broken. Unable to bear his reality, the idea that he is a secret agent will soon be born in his mind, thus triggering the absurd comedy of his life.
In the monologue “Broken Telephone”, misunderstandings and failed communications are not just a matter of technical problems, but of internal conflicts and social impasses. Through the lens of a hero monologuing, the viewer is invited to look in the mirror and ask: Who is on the other end of the line and what have we let get lost in translation?
– The broken phone is a child’s play of misunderstanding and miscommunication. So why is the show called “Broken Phone”?
We are not talking about a child’s game. It’s a real broken phone. Obviously I also put the title playfully, precisely because in the past when we talked we referred to the game and not to an actual broken phone. I am speaking in a way about a personal experience of mine. Indeed, my phone was broken, data was lost and I needed an upgrade, a “cure”, very demanding financially. I was very impressed. I realized that the phone is not as profitable as a device as the “laters” are. Just because the phone has tied our hands, we consider it vital. Of course, there was also a second situation… Walking on the street, I saw a man who could also be the man of the project. He was walking on the street and was in a psychopathological state. The passers-by did not understand him, because his behavior, while it was not, looked normal. And all because they thought he was talking on the phone.
How did the idea for ‘Broken Phone’ come about? Who does the audience identify with? Does anyone finally answer? Constantinos Magnis answers these and other questions
– Why did you decide this work to be a monologue?
Because in the first place this was imposed by itself from the nature of the matter. The hero could only monologue. Of course, there are persons and situations with which he interacts, either on a real or imaginary level. This also happens in reality. Whether we are talking to another person or to ourselves, we start the scenarios in our head, we direct ourselves before we even communicate or sometimes without communicating at all.
– And sometimes the scenarios we have in our heads don’t “come out”.
Why do the real ones come out? Reality is like the hurricanes that hit – for now – the Pacific or the Atlantic, and which exceed the possibility of prediction and defense and make history by swallowing individuals. This is the reality and this is the story.
– In a world that literally swims in information, do you think that what is “said” or “not said” in “Broken Telephone” is a protest against modern dialogue?
It is a protest against non-dialogue. I think that in our life there are many portable materials, which appear as necessary food and at the same time are a necessary ticket to co-exist in the social arena. But at the same time they are useless and harmful and attractive. They prevent us from seeing our true selves. It is like livelihood, necessary and often creative, but when it disappears, it gives vents to a dimension of yourself that is suppressed. This also applies to communication, miscommunication or dissemination of information. It’s what our grandmothers used to say: “What do you understand?”.
Through his play Konstantinos Magnis once again winks at us and invites us to see ourselves
– What is the biggest fear your hero tries to hide behind his turbulent communication?
His failures. It could be reminiscent – although there is no evidence – of “Death of the Merchant”. I believe there is a kinship, I have been unintentionally and not so subconsciously influenced by the theme of this work, that anyone who has read it understands that it is a work that marks you. And this is the role that theater is called to play: in the last analysis, literature and theater deal with failures, neuroses.
– One person only on stage – no matter how “broken” the phone is, who do you expect to answer the other end of the line? Is it the audience or perhaps a ‘self’, someone we try to forget?
I can’t answer that. In fact, in the end, we answer ourselves. After indulging in the game of internal conflicts, complex and neurotic, it is time to face our truth, accept what is happening, compromise and let go of resentment, stop wallowing in sadness and childish rage and admit defeats and our disadvantages. Let’s face them. It is a point that anyone who sees the play recognizes himself, even though what is happening may be “foreign” to him. This is also my pursuit, I am not writing about a social monster but for all of us and for myself.
– Do you think viewers identify more with the recipient of the message or with the one desperately trying to convey it?
I believe they identify with the recipient. With themselves more. At some point the project holds up a mirror and if you look at yourself the project has succeeded, otherwise we did something wrong.
– This can’t be the viewer’s fault? Why blame the project?
I never like what we say is right or wrong. A predisposed spectator may enter. Some people enter a show thinking they will see something similar to the Carnival Committee, or the jokes of the s-choliast and they are lost. This is something I hope to get rid of soon: the responsibility to make people laugh every 3 days. The play also has comedic elements, but I want to go further and in parallel.
– The dynamic of the monologue is usually based on the psychological journey of the character. Is this “broken phone” the result of personal choices or a society that causes people to get lost in dead-end dialogues?
I think it’s something in between. Society itself is an impersonal mechanism, it does not deal with us as a god or demigod or wizard of a sphere focusing on us. Our personal choices certainly determine our lives, but we cross paths with other people, who, although they are our choices, cannot be blamed for their own shortcomings as much as we are the ones who have chosen them. Our ability to intervene in the flow of life is not that great, we are not all pioneers or great revolutionaries. Sometimes you just follow the stream. You see this also in earlier times, in women who were married to men who oppressed them and preferred it, because they were not able to create another life. It happens to all of us: I know things are not as they should be, but…
– If you had the opportunity to “open the line” of the viewer with a single phrase from the play, what would it be and why?
One sentence is difficult. It is the showdown with the famous “Great”. It amused me a lot.
Info
“Broken Phone” on Epicenter+
Representations: From October 30 to November 17
Showtimes: Wednesday-Thursday-Friday: 9.15 p.m., Sunday: 8 p.m.
Text: Konstantinos Magnis
Direction – Video and audio editing: Miltos Nikas
Lighting: Nikos Sotiropoulos
Costume editing: Nancy Konstantinidis
He interprets Vassilis Kokkalis
#silence #strongest #dialogue
