The Humble Little Doll Theater plays: Antheas Visit

This is a rather weird little scene from ancient Greece…I made the costumes (like always!) from recycled and vintage fabrics and for the style, I used a costume book. It´s not really genuine, but good enough for me.

I wrote the letter in real ancient Greek. But don´t ask me, what it says- Its something about philosophy, a text I found at the web….

The story is simple: Two sisters life in a small village near Athens, where they share a house.

One day, bad news arrives: Anthea, a professional dancer and  relative of the sisters, announces her visit in a letter…and the trouble begins!

Is it true, what the rumour says...    On a hot summers day in a small village, somewhere in ancient Greece, bad news arrives.

A neighbor comes in a hurry: “It´s all over the village! Is it true, what the rumour says?  ANTHEA is coming for a visit?

 

That´s her letter. She arrives today!

 

 

 

“Yes. Unfortunatelly, it´s true! This is her letter….She arrives today!

I don´t like her!

 

 

 

 

 

“That´s horrible news! I really don´t like her! She is vain, selfish and talks about nothing but dancing!”

Nobody likes her, she´s a horror!

 

 

 

 

 

“Nobody likes her! But what do we expect? She is a professional dancer and that is all, she cares about- Exept of her own beauty! That woman is a horror!

Anthea for a visit! Can´t we pretend, we´re out...

 

 

 

 

 

“Oh sister, can´t we pretend, we´re out? Or left the country in a hurry? ”

“You know, we can´t! She´ll find us everywhere! So we must try to be good hosts on all costs!”

Not even the philosopher have a good advice

 

 

 

 

 

Not even the philosphers have a good advice for the poor sisters!

She makes us dance until we´re edhausted!

 

 

 

 

 

“Yes, we must be good hosts! That´s the morals! But she´ll make us all dance again, until we´re totally exhausted! Think at her last visit! We needed three weeks after she left, to get back on our feet and recover! I´m still limping a bit”

I go and get some! Maybe from the poisoned well!

 

 

 

 

 

“Anyway! She´ll need some fresh water, if she arrives.”

“I go and get some….Maybe from the polluted well!”

Welcome Anthea! How...ähm...good to see you!

 

 

 

 

There´s no way to hide…Soon before noon Anthea arrives in her travel-clothing.

“Welcome Anthea….How….good….to see you again!”

“Oh girls! I had SO MUCH FUN!”

I danced at the palace of Ithaka!

 

 

 

 

“I danced at the palace of Ithaka!”

And I danced before Helena of Troy!

 

 

 

 

 

“And I danced before Helena of Troy! You can´t imagine, how beautiful she is! But not as beautiful as I am, of course!”

“How….very interesting, Anthea….After your long journey , don´t you wan´t some fresh water from the poll….I mean from the well nearby?”

You´re boring!Don´t sit around! Let´s dance!

 

 

 

 

 

“I don´t want water! Haven´t you some wine? Oh, come along! don´t be so boring and sit around all day Let´s dance! I´ll teach you a new style, I learned in Korinth”!

NO! Please Anthea, DON´T!

 

 

 

 

“No Anthea! Please DON´T!”

Dancing is an art!

 

 

 

“Dancing is an ART!”

More expression! None of you has discipline!

 

 

 

“More expression! None of you has discipline!”

I can´t go on!

 

 

 

 

“Oh mighty gods, please help us! I´can´t go on dancing!”

What will happen next? A sudden flash from the Olymp, to end Antheas promising career? Or will her victims strike back for once? Or maybe Anthea get´s bored with her hosts and hurrys to the next dancing-event to have another triumph?

That depends on your own fantasy!

The last scene, with the poor girl broke down, is actually my recreation of a scene on a vintage photograph from the 1920s, where the real dancers copy the style of Isadora Duncan.

That dancing-scene gave me some trouble…Have you ever tried zu make a Syb pose vertically without a stand? I don´t know, how often the dolls dropped down, before I managed them to pose in the right way. (Well, at least a little bit in the right way…)

And how to place the big vase or amphora on the syb´s head without having an accident? Don´t ask!

And there is another problem, I couldn´t fix: None of the girls wears shoes! It´s impossible, to find matching antique-style sandals for fashion dolls with high heel feet. But going barefoot was not uncommon in the ancient world, so I decided to skip that problem.

For the doodads and pieces in the background: Some of them are Roman or Etruscan replicas. The rest is modern tourist-stuff from fleemarkets or charity shops.

For the wigs- thank´s to Marcia again. They are  not really ancient greek style, but look a bit in that way.