The Old Ladies Who Harvest the Nettle
How is the body of an older woman connected to folk witchcraft, cooking, and ritual practices?
Three male performers take on the roles of three women, bringing to life a narrative of the aging female body — both personal and collective.
The story begins in Thessaly, a region where tradition depicts women as “witches,” heirs of secret knowledge passed down from Medea, and experts in the practice known as “moon-drawing” or “husband of the moon.” The three characters in the performance resemble harmless grandmothers and powerful healers at the same time — familiar yet archetypal. They speak about their lives, recounting the hardships they have endured, the wisdom they inherited from their ancestors, and the knowledge they passed on to the next generations. Carrying the triple role of worker, housekeeper, and mother, these women actively contributed to the livelihood of their families and local communities, yet for years remained invisible — even to researchers who often considered women’s accounts unreliable and unworthy of historical record.
Having begun its journey at the Experimental Stage of the Thessaliko Theatre in March 2023, the performance was first staged at Stathmos Theatre for two consecutive seasons, and then toured various Greek cities, where it was warmly received.
As a work in progress, it bridges performance and social anthropology, evolving and redefining itself while drawing material from numerous interviews conducted alongside the shows. The audience is invited to participate in this research and, if they wish, to contribute to the documentation of oral histories that have been collected since the beginning of the production.
Cast: Michalis Anagnostou, Manousos Georgopoulos, Platonas Giorgos Perleros
Research/Dramaturgy/Direction: Konstantinos Ntellas
Soundscapes and Original Music: Alexandros Ktistakis
Movement: Mariza Tsiga
Mask Construction: Martha Foka
Costume Supervisor: Konstantina Mardiki
Assistant Director: Artemis Leptokaropoulou
Photography and Promotional Video: Charalambos Vlachodimos, Ilias Lachanas
Editing: Stylianos Vlachodimos
Executive Producer: Politismos Stathmos Theatre
Language: Greek (with English subtitles)
The costume design was generously sponsored by the Lyceum Club of Greek Women.
