BITS AND PIECES...
"Honey of the mind, Soul in flames"World Premiere of “Lucas and Time”… a floating free jazz of the words, a ping-pong of emotions… an explosive circular training for the brain cells, a powerfully poetic play about being, time and the power of narrating (Noz, reviewed by Werner Huelsmann, 2016).
"Waiting for Lucas" [...] Orfanou wrote a play full of poetic force and narrative vigour. In only a few words she constructs whole worlds bursting with detail – and tears them down with the same ease. [...] Lucas and Time is a play on the power of fiction and theatre. It is a delight to watch on stage how, from one scene of the play to the next, new worlds are invented, and how one flows into the other, or glides over the other, and then vanishes again. [...] Niki Orfanou uses all the means of writing. A beautiful, powerful play. Theater der Zeit, reviewed by Anne Reinert (for Lucas and Time, Stadttheater Osnabrueck, Germany, 2016)
Winner of the Script Space Competition 2014 / Tobacco Factory Theatres Bristol
The panel were incredibly impressed by I could sleep in your arms. We thought it to be a bold, economic piece with a quiet power to it. There was a strong sense of form and audience experience. We were particularly impressed by the ambition and stylistic possibilities of the piece…the story it evokes, rather than tells, is fascinating and the ambiguity of the protagonist particularly we found to be particularly endearing. The panel was excited by its experiential nature and the individual meaning it allows an audience to draw and associate with the story, feeling that it both invites and implicates the audience in a really interesting way. There was a clear voice in regards to the lead character and we were particularly impressed by the writer's use of rhythm and space. As a whole the piece felt nicely held and very accomplished with a confident, fresh and individual authorial voice. It was a thoughtful and thought-provoking piece that excited us immensely. The panel, Script Space Competition (for I could sleep in your arms, chosen out of 416 scripts.)
Theater Haute, 2016
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“Scenes from a dysfunctional family convinces with its poignancy”
Niki Orfanou’s edgy scenes from the life of a dysfunctional family is an intriguing piece of new writing that often catches you unawares. In avoiding the usual stereotypes of family disintegration, this four-hander looks at the long-term damage on parents and their children that arises from a simple lack of communication... Orfanou’s blurring of dreamy scenarios and stark realities proves a successful combination through overlapping vignettes, past and present, the world outside and inside their heads. The Stage, reviewed by Nick Awde
(for Thinking of you, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012) Shortlisted / Verity Bargate Award 2007 There is a real fair and poetry to your writing. We found your piece both intriguing and genuinely poignant… I would like to offer my special commendation for your work (Nina Steiger, Soho Theatre
for Long Siesta Lost) "A gem" Each of the four pieces included in this issue is a gem in its own way. I especially relished the musical flow of Niki Orfanou’s mini domestic drama ‘Knock-Knock’, an updated ‘I’m okay, You’re okay’ tussle...Such small-scale experimental theatre pieces often easily disappear without trace and Bare Fiction is here potentially helping to create an important archive Sabotage Reviews, reviewed by Cath Barton (for Knock-Knock, published in Bare Fiction magazine, 2014)
"New play, very different in tone"
Thinking of you by London-based playwright Niki Orfanou.The poetical, unnatural language adds to this sense of emptiness as does the bare cellar bar which serves as the venue... The bleakness of these characters’ relationships is conveyed well by the script and cast. London Evening Standard (for Thinking of you, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012)
"It's about to get apocalyptic"
Niki Orfanou’s script, with its repetitions and dangling phrases, is reminiscent of Pinter and NF Simpson in the area of absurdist drama which stresses the irrational aspects of human behaviour... A very important and contemporary play. RemoteGoat (for Quango 193, Universal Citizens Company, 2011)
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"An intelligent piece of writing" ****
It could easily be misunderstood: It doesn't have your traditional beginning, middle and end like conventional drama and this is because ultimately it is a non linear sequence of vignettes, but so are our memories.... There are some similarities to Martin Crimp's work, broken dialogue, unfinished sentences, interruptions, overlapping, expressing the emotional detachment and a somewhat bleak view of human relationships.... A strong and intelligent script, from the skilled writer Niki Orfanou, is enhanced by some outstanding performances from the four strong cast. EdFringe.com, reviewed by Joe Davidson (for Thinking of you, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012)
"A dynamic story of four broken lives" ****
This play has a clever way of keeping the audience entranced, weaving between past and present, reality and fantasy worlds. Three Weeks (for Thinking of you, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012)
"Not to be missed"
(for Juliet's Balcony by Kathimerini National Press, 2013)
"Alive is the key.... It deserves a full house" **** London Festival Fringe (for Quango 193, Universal Citizens Company, 2011)
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