Half Life

By Danai Paraskevopoulou

Image courtesy of Tangled Feet

What is the meaning of life? We saw Half Life by ‘Tangled Feet’ in the Gulbenkian on 21 February.

A devised performance inspired by the actor’s experiences and questions about life. The company worked in the performance for over 20 years, when the performers met at University. The actors took us into a beautiful journey from the beginning of their company until now. Each of them individually told us their story and how they grew up through theatre, but they always highlighted the question: Are we the same people who met 20 years ago? With great movement, acrobatic, singing, and acting we had a lot of fun and the energy was very high. In each movement they made as they were telling their story I could see the struggles and the difficult times they have in their lives, but they always had each other and that is what made them stronger. By giving voice to all ages ‘Tangled Feet’ created one of the most honest performances I have ever seen. The interaction of the actors from age 10 until 80 created a beautiful atmosphere and gave us the message that all ages matter.

The dance solo of Jen Kahawatte was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in a performance. It was not only her movement that made this moment so special, but her soul on stage was 100% present.

Each age group gave different energy to the stage and a different variety and in a magical way the performance was a complete devised show. It is very rare these days to have true friends and I believe they have something very special which can be expressed with the art of theatre. The messages they wanted to give to the audience was clear, we change times passed and the only thing we can do is enjoy it.