The Absurdity of Collapse: Ecosomatics, Memory, and Bioethics in Project Abyssos

Eva Gkadri*

Abstract

This contribution examines Abyssos: A Paradoxical Transit Ritual, an original play written and directed by Eleana Georgouli, through the lens of ecocriticism. The play is identified as an ecoperformance in that ecological concerns are central to its source material, creative development and execution. The absurdity of large-scale ecological catastrophes shapes the play’s absurdist aesthetic, informing its algorithmic relationship to memory and its engagement with the concept of the more-than-human. Focusing on embodiment and physical performance, this brief study analyzes the roles of the six performers, whose continuous, transformative movement—characterized by a dynamic process of morphing—advances both the narrative and performative structure of the work. Additionally, the article explores the kinesthetic function of collective adaptability, examining how internal decision-making processes emerge through an extended rehearsal period and specific training methodologies. The discussion extends to the play’s ecosomatic practices and the notion of embodied consciousness, drawing on Phillip Zarrilli’s practice. Finally, the essay situates Abyssos within a bioethical framework, linking its dramaturgical emphasis on introspection and the testing of physical and mental endurance to broader questions about sustaining the performer within the performance.

Keywords: ecoperformance, ecosomatics, trans-formative movement, multidisciplinary practice, physical theatre

As human influence continues to shape the planet, ushering in what is often referred to as the Anthropocene—or even the Post-Anthropocene—climate change and vast ecological interdependencies have become central themes across interdisciplinary studies. Yet, while theatre-making increasingly engages with ecological issues as both subject matter and creative agenda, it has only recently begun to explore the embodied experience of the human in relation to the biosphere. Theatre, with its ability to transcend purely textual dramaturgy, offers a unique mode of looking at and understanding ecological complexities; one that unfolds through embodied encounters between human and nonhuman entities, aligning with the notion of the “more-than-human.”^[1]

In this context, Abyssos: A Paradoxical Transit Ritual, an original play written and directed by Eleana Georgouli, exemplifies ecoperformance by embedding ecological concerns at the core of its source material, creative process and execution. Set in an intimate yet dystopian future—on the brink of destruction brought about by anthropogenic climate change and successive wars—the performance unfolds across ten poetic and absurdist episodes, driven by a chorus of ever-shifting embodiments in a state of pulsating motion. At the heart of the narrative lies ARCADIA, a promised land of environmental harmony, political justice and prosperity. However, before travelers may enter ARCADIA, they must first pass through ABYSSOS, a liminal space housing the Inspection Station. There, a Special Committee evaluates new arrivals, testing the limits of their mental, moral and physical endurance to determine whether they are worthy of passage to ARCADIA. This design transforms a desperate attempt at survival into a multi-level competition for dominance, akin to a gamified struggle.

The performance piece is the outcome of an open dramaturgical framework, multidisciplinary research and a methodology that prioritizes dynamic, participatory structures over fixed, predetermined representations. My involvement in Abyssos was shaped by my role as the director’s assistant and production coordinator. From the early stages of conceptualization through the rehearsal and development process to the full 22-performance run, I engaged deeply with the production. This sustained involvement allowed me to become thoroughly familiar with and intricately connected to the conceptual, creative and practical dimensions of the piece.

*Abyssos* (*Άβυσσος* in Greek) rehearsal, featuring Rosa Prodromou. Photo: Karol Jarek

Conceptual Framework

The physical aspect of the performance involved attuning to natural patterns and rhythms as well as exploring how the bodily experience of self and Other is affected by the sensory encounter with the nonhuman. Abyssos is structured in a way that mirrors algorithmic processes, both in its development and in how the narrative unfolds. This algorithmic quality is particularly evident in the play’s relationship to memory, as its text and score function as fragmented recollections that interweave different temporal dimensions. These fragments serve as a bridge between the dramatic present—a world on the brink of collapse due to anthropogenic climate change, the characters’ arrival in ABYSSOS and their process of introspection—and the past, which encompasses massive ecological catastrophes, periods of harmony with nature and eras of collective prosperity. Fragments of memory—though never rationalized as such—manifest as embodied experiences. The performance thus activates the mnemonic function through encounters with the Other(s), aiming to reawaken eco-consciousness—a principle aligned with ecosomatic practice.^[2]

Raffaele Rufo highlights that the vigilance of the body’s memory and the grief over mass ecological losses are essential to the process of regeneration (“Somatic Arts and Liveable Futures” 199). However, eco-consciousness is not an “abstract function of the mind” (200) but, rather, the raw, sensory experience and embodied awareness of one’s/the practitioner’s “bodymind”^[3] in relation to the environment. This raises a key question: how does one cultivate such functions and, in turn, channel them into expressive performance?

The development of Abyssos was rooted in an interpretation of Phillip Zarrilli’s psychophysical training trajectory,^[4] which formed the central axis of its methodological approach. Each rehearsal began with a structured warm-up—yoga-based or cardio-focused physical training to align body and mind, followed by vocal exercises and a brief ensemble-led massage therapy^[5] to release tension and body resistance. Repeating this structured physical practice throughout the rehearsal and performance process allowed practitioners to gradually enter a state of heightened attentiveness—what Zarrilli refers to as embodied consciousness (Phenomenology of Acting 23). Before different forms of physicality were put into free play, the ensemble engaged with basic qualities of movement, stripped of any preconceived notions. At this stage, Gabrielle Roth’s “5Rhythms” methodology was introduced into the process.

Roth identifies five movement qualities: “Flowing/Legato,” “Staccato,” “Chaos,” “Lyrical” and “Stillness.” She argues that moving through these rhythms enables performers to tap into instinctual responses and trace memories, reconnecting with “cycles of birth, death, renewal. Physical improvisations—both solo and ensemble-based—using the 5Rhythms framework facilitated the initial awakening of the body’s memory and the release of personal kinesthetic expressions, free from preconditioned patterns.

*Abyssos* rehearsal. L-R: Xaris Karydis, Maria Alexopoulou, Stathis Apostolou, Rosa Prodromou, Eleana Georgouli, Nikos Milias. Photo: Karol Jarek

Rehearsals began with only an abstract storyline and drafts of poetic texts, allowing the material for the narrative and the performance to emerge organically from the pre-performative training phases. The performers’ first engagement with the thematic content occurred through active images. A curated selection of photographs depicting the aftermath of massive ecological catastrophes, portraits of so-called “benefactors” who played a role in these crises and images of landscapes before their destruction was presented to the ensemble. The references ranged from nuclear disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima, Cold War-era devastation and illegal gold mining in the Amazon to the impacts of tsunamis in Thailand, floods in Florida, World War II, the destruction of ancient forests, marine debris and water scarcity.

Performers closely examined the photographs and engaged in an introspective process to awaken their internal memory and identify what evoked a visceral response; what Dylan Trigg in The Memory of Place: A Phenomenology of the Uncanny calls a “punctum,” “a sting, speck . . . which pricks me” (xxi). Rather than seeking some sort of direct interpretation, this process became a reflection on how the punctum surfaced in the performers’ awareness, guiding their attention to the embodied sensation that triggered their response (xxi).

Performers were then asked to write a curriculum vitae of their characters in essay form, by answering questions focusing on their character’s past before they began their journey to ARCADIA and the relationship with their place of origin before it got destroyed. The curriculum vitae would act as introductory reference points for the development of the piece’s text and score. Through this process of horizontal dramaturgy, material would recur in different formats and/or details in between the six performers personal stories indicating a pathway for the structure.

The foregoing use of images resurfaced in a later phase of (pre-performance) training, this time combined with activating phrases to facilitate the development of personal etudes. With Trigg’s concept of punctum and the practice of ecosomatics in mind, performers examined “how the actual in-the-flesh sensory experience is shaped” by atmospheric, biological, political and cultural forces (Rufo, “Somatic Arts and Liveable Futures” 202). Observing the reference photographs while, simultaneously, listening to activating phrases selected from the text by themselves, performers were encouraged to attend to how their bodily sensations shifted: which parts of the body contracted or expanded, which movements emerged instinctively, how tensions and releases manifested and so on.^[6]

Progressively, the performers’ embodied responses were shaped through textual engagement, physical improvisations, partnering exercises and heightened sensory awareness. This iterative process led to the development of personal etudes—a unique physical vocabulary for each performer. These etudes served not only as anchors for the performers’ individual trajectories but also as key reference points for the ensemble’s collective approach to treating and integrating newly introduced material. Recognizing variations in each performer’s physicality—whether one’s movements were contained and torso-centric, another’s more pulsive and rhythm-driven, or another’s defined by openness and expansiveness—allowed for smoother transitions and more precise energy management throughout the piece’s evolution.

*Abyssos* rehearsal, featuring Nikos Milias. Photo: Karol Jarek

Process of Development

With a focus on embodiment, Abyssos relies on physical performance to drive both its narrative and its performative structure. The six performers form a chorus, functioning as a collective body engaged in a continuous pulse of transformative—morphing—movement.

These morphing sequences, characterized by gradual and seamless shape changes, constitute the core mechanism of narration, allowing meaning to emerge kinetically rather than through predetermined dialogue or choreography. Movement travels through space in dynamic relation to abstract and physical objects, reinforcing the interplay between bodily expression and environmental forces.

Peggy Hackney, in Making Connections, interrogates the role of shape in movement with the questions: “Is the shape changing in relation to self or in relation to the environment? What is the major quality which is influencing the process of change?” (221). In embodiment practices, particularly in morphing sequences, the process of arriving at a shape, its sculpting and shifting, carries more expressive significance than the final form itself. Awareness of changing the shape from within is a key premise for the shifting shape to function as an expressive mode. Hackney further differentiates between self-oriented and environment-oriented shape change (221). In Abyssos, however, this shape change is also dramaturgically oriented, shaping both the performance’s aesthetic and its underlying narrative structure.

The morphing sequences follow specific rules and techniques: the performer at the forefront of the ensemble’s visual field initiates new material, formations maintain a cluster-like structure and transitions between shapes remain fluid and seamless. The intensity and focus of “trans-formative” movement shift throughout the score, giving rise to distinct physical vocabularies—whether a contained, introspective, gestural-focused sequence evoking physical inspections and practical tasks, a high-impact, pulsive exploration of stamina, or a fragmented, limb-focused depiction of bodily disintegration. It bears emphasizing that these evolving physical compositions are not pre-choreographed; rather, their operation can be likened to that of a living organism that manages decision making internally through the kinesthetic function of collective adaptability.

*Abyssos* rehearsal. L-R: Xaris Karydis, Nikos Milias, Maria Alexopoulou. Photo: Karol Jarek

Storytelling via collective adaptability functions both as a modus operandi and a theme. It bodies forth the human ecologies harmonizing with the more-than-human, while also bearing witness to the effects of ecological crisis on the body itself. The references, sourced material, textual drafts and kinesthetic explorations developed through this process are eventually shaped into structured improvisations. Simple tasks grow into complex performative structures through in-the-moment guidance and rule-setting, forging a link between pre-performative training and performance (Zarrilli, Psychophysical Acting 100).

As performers investigate the impulses behind their actions while these actions sculpt their bodies and thus the piece’s dramaturgy, they engage with what Zarrilli terms “residual awareness”—the embodied sensation of one’s kinesthetic (internal) and energetic (external) relationship to movement in action (Psychophysical Acting 91). Activating this residual awareness ensures that the performance remains fluid, living and responsive, while still maintaining clarity and structure. The piece’s functions are characterized by openness but not abstraction, ensuring that the audience experiences the work as an immersive and legible ecological encounter.

The performers’ interaction with musical transitions, as well as with the height and pendulum-like motion of the hanging microphones, contributed to the development of the piece’s operational/technical score. While overseeing technical operations during rehearsals, my background as a trained performer and dancer provided a kinesthetic rather than purely technical perspective and understanding. This allowed for a more holistic approach to crafting a manually operated score—one that remained flexible and responsive to the energetic dynamics of each performance. Functioning as an additional, yet unseen, force within the narrative, this score subtly shaped the overall theatrical experience.

*Abyssos* rehearsal. L-R: Xaris Karydis, Rosa Prodromou, Maria Alexopoulou, Eleana Georgouli, Nikos Milias, Stathis Apostolou. Photo: Karol Jarek

Execution, or Actions of Ecodramaturgy

In theatre- and performance-making, ecological matters are often reduced to an aesthetic theory or mere discourse rather than being integrated into practice—or, better, (self)reflective theatre praxis. Ian Garret, in Readings in Performance and Ecology, raises the issue of the challenge playwrights face when dealing with said topics. Admittedly, there is a certain difficulty in writing stories about ecology and the Anthropocene that reframe the way we think about them; those “stories are hard to contain” because ecologies exceed human perception and comprehension (Arons and May 4). An effective approach to making ecological discourse accessible—both for creators and audiences—is embedding sustainability directly into the process of theatrical storytelling itself.

Abyssos followed this approach, by aligning its topic and ecodramaturgy^[7] with sustainable production practices. Theatre productions often generate substantial waste, particularly in set and costume design, as non-recyclable materials are frequently chosen for convenience and short-term use. Costume design in Abyssos required one to two outfit changes per performer, with additional statement pieces for character transformations. Creating entirely new costumes for the production would have resulted in significant material waste and unnecessary costs. To counter this, Abyssos minimized waste in its costume design by relying primarily on thrifted and second-hand pieces, along with garments from the performers’ personal archives. The only new purchases were undergarments, which were necessary for hygienic reasons. This approach not only reduced material waste but also avoided contributing to the fast-fashion industry and its cycle of overconsumption.

The set design followed a similarly minimalist and sustainable approach. Rather than constructing elaborate, disposable scenery, the production repurposed existing items: two armchairs, a chest and a salvaged retro amusement park ride piece, all sourced from antique stores. Props were selected with dual functionality in mind, such as lighting elements and microphones that doubled as set pieces. Other props included consumable materials like nuts stored in glass jars, handmade fake blood in reusable glass containers, water in repurposed gasoline canisters and turf.

*Abyssos* rehearsal. L-R: Maria Alexopoulou, Xaris Karydis, Eleana Georgouli, Stathis Apostolou, Nikos Milias. Photo: Karol Jarek

Lighting design was another key aspect of the project’s sustainability efforts. Traditional stage lighting demands significant energy input, increasing a production’s carbon footprint. However, Abyssos utilized Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs), which consume far less power than incandescent lights while delivering comparable output (Arons and May 202). The performance’s dim, dystopian world was illuminated primarily by overhead LED spotlights, two LED floodlights, hanging work lamps with LED bulbs and a custom-built, handmade wooden lighting system equipped with fluorescent lights.

Despite these efforts, one of the most pressing sustainability challenges in theatre remains energy consumption in transportation—bringing materials and labor to the performance site. Abyssos mitigated this by selecting a rehearsal space and venue in close proximity, reducing the need for excessive travel. Public transportation and bicycles were the primary modes of transport, while carpooling was coordinated to accommodate multiple production members efficiently.

This integration of sustainability into both the thematic and the practical aspects of Abyssos demonstrates that ecodramaturgy should not only address ecological issues in narrative form but also embody them in the means of production. By aligning creative choices with environmental consciousness, theatre can serve as both a reflective and active agent in the ecological crisis.

*Abyssos* rehearsal. L-R: Xaris Karydis, Eleana Georgouli. Photo: Karol Jarek

How to Sustain the Performer within the Performance?

Abyssos’ dramaturgy emphasizes the concepts of introspection and testing physical and mental endurance. The narrative establishes ABYSSOS as the location of the Inspection Station—an unseen authority, possibly composed of eminent scientists, tasked with evaluating the thousands of travelers seeking approval for passage to ARCADIA, the promised land of prosperity and environmental harmony. To earn their entry, travelers must undergo rigorous assessments, measuring both their physical and mental qualifications. But who determines these qualifications? What standards must one meet to be deemed worthy? What forms of biomedical research are conducted on these living subjects? And fundamentally, does the requirement to meet specific criteria for entry contradict the principle of inclusiveness essential to a more-than-human ecosystem? Questions like these foreground a broader ethical dilemma surrounding bioethics. Hans-Martin Sass argues that advancements in physiology and psychology increasingly challenge the distinction between human and non-human, leading to a moral obligation “not only towards humans, but towards all forms of life” (222).

From a practical point of view, the performers are quite literally put to the test, both physically and mentally. For 90 minutes, they endure relentless movement, maintaining a constant pulse of morphing sequences that are neither predetermined nor choreographed. This demands extreme physical stamina as well as an intense state of mental attentiveness. Given the taxing nature of the performance, it is vital to protect and sustain the performers not only throughout the 90 minutes of each individual show but across the full 22-performance run.

In preparation for this demanding role, performers engaged in a long-term endurance regimen. Their pre-performative training, initially based on cardio-focused exercises, gradually intensified beyond their aerobic threshold, ultimately enhancing their oxygen uptake capacity. However, the extreme level of physical exertion required by the piece demands not only the ability to reach peak oxygen consumption but also the capability to sustain it for extended periods to be fully efficient in their performance. As Asok Kumar Ghosh explains, the transition from aerobic to anaerobic thresholds marks the point where “metabolic acidosis and changes in gas exchange in the lungs” occur during high-impact exertion (24–25). To manage this, the structured training prepared performers not only by developing physical endurance and mindfulness as to what moves the body (rather than how the body moves) but also by refining their energy awareness. This approach follows Zarrilli’s principle that “energy does not equal effort, as in more energy” (Psychophysical Acting 87). Instead, performers learn to release energy as needed for the task at hand and regulate it effectively throughout the performance’s duration. The structure of Abyssos was designed with two crescendos of high-impact physicality, with transitional phases allowing for a smoother navigation between aerobic and anaerobic thresholds.

Beyond physical endurance, maintaining the performer’s mental state is equally crucial, as they must navigate an ever-shifting performance shaped by the energetic dynamics of each iteration. The play’s text and score function as a choral narration of shared and open material. The play’s text and score function as a choral narration of shared and fluid material, with each performer engaging in a process of personal storytelling within an absurdist framework of fragmented, recurring imagery. This process requires each performer to discover and develop a personal throughline for their character and embodiment—one that remains adaptable rather than fixed, continuously responding to the evolving energy of each performance.

Additionally, the integration of active functions ensures that performers sustain a heightened state of alertness and connection to the ensemble, reducing reliance on muscle memory and thereby mitigating the risk of injury. Here it is of great importance that the material presented in the piece has been developed collaboratively with and for them. The text and movement vocabulary emerged organically from the stories they contributed and the physicalities that instinctively arose through improvisation, fostering a deeply integrated and embodied approach to performance

In light of the above, for the people who have worked on this project since its inception (myself included), Abyssos is experienced a living, breathing process of co-creation, where the performers’ physical and narrative trajectories are sculpted through mining private resources, but also through endurance, adaptability and collective authorship. By integrating movement, storytelling and bioethical inquiry, the piece challenges conventional notions of agency and inclusivity, urging both performers and audiences to reconsider the boundaries—and the stakes—of the human and the more-than-human world.

*Abyssos* rehearsal. L-R: Xaris Karydis, Stathis Apostolou. Photo: Karol Jarek

Concluding Thoughts

Throughout this article, we have examined Abyssos in terms of its conceptual framework, methodology, practices and themes, drawing a connection with ecodramaturgy. All things considered, Abyssos serves as both a reflection and a reminder of ideas it never explicitly articulates. Instead, the piece operates as a performative exploration, an inquiry through performance into the body’s sensorial and mnemonic adaptation to the Anthropocene. Movement-based wanderings enable performers to embody ecological connections, engaging in action and thought without a predetermined objective. This is in line with Rufo’s argument that it is unnecessary to predefine “the direction and purpose of changing our lives and the world,” since it is by cultivating awareness through embodied practices that we may find ways to move beyond the Anthropocene (“Somatic Arts and Liveable Futures” 216). Thus, Abyssos prioritizes multisensory experience and psychophysical bewilderment over the effective decoding of its references or the rationalization of its absurdist mode.

For those involved in the project—who became subjects of a research inquiry into ecological thinking—Abyssos prompted a deeper perceptual comprehension of the human body as a conduit for ecological and sustainable thought. Centuries of anthropocentric ideology challenge the recognition of the human bodymind as not only embedded within a broader more-than-human ecology but also as a medium that physically embodies the biological history of millions of years. The extent to which one resists or attunes to this understanding of somatic ecology shapes the way ecological destruction is experienced, not only in the external world but also within and through us, implicating us in its unfolding.

Endnotes

^[1] The concept of the more-than-human highlights the intricate entanglement of human life with non-human entities. However, the nature of this encounter cannot be neatly categorized as either human or non-human; rather, it extends beyond such distinctions, blurring boundaries to a point where both merge and coexist.

^[2] Ecosomatics practice emerges from the meeting of “somatics,” as discussed by existentialist philosopher and practitioner Hanna Thomas in the 1970s and 1980s, and the field of ecology. Ecosomatics is the sensory exploration of the body’s embodiment with the ecological understanding of and connection with the larger environmental system that living beings are embedded. More information on ecosomatics can be found on the special issue of Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices, edited by Thomas Kampe, Jamie McHugh, Katja Munker.

^[3] Zarrilli defines the bodymind as “a resonant inhabitation of the subtle psychophysical dimensions of the body and the mind at work together as one in the moment” (Psychophysical Acting 4).

^[4] Zarrilli structures his psychophysical training around Asian martial arts and yoga, then progresses to a workshop phase with structured improvisations.

^[5] Massage is defined here as the “systematic manipulation of the soft tissues of the body” (Tappan 3).

^[6] The sensorial response toward personal kinesthetic qualities and environmental forces is in line with Rufo’s notion of embeddedness in a more-than-human ecosystem (“Humans, Trees, and the Intimacy of Movement” 89).

^[7] Ecodramaturgy proposes different lens for thinking about and making theatre. Ecological issues and stories lay at the center of the performed material whilst making connections between theories of anthropology, globalization, presentation and representation of nonhuman entities. Ecodramaturgy also serves as an active agent in the challenging of historical and current ways of production by considering a production’s footprint. See May’s Earth Matters on Stage for more information on ecodramaturgy.

Bibliography

Arons, Wendy, and Theresa J. May, editors. Readings in Performance and Ecology. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

Ghosh, Asok Kumar. “Anaerobic Threshold: Its Oncept and Role in Endurance Sport.” Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 11, no.1, 2004, pp. 24–36.

Hackney, Peggy. Making Connections: Total Body Integration Through Bartenieff Fundamentals. Routledge, 2002.

Hanna, Thomas. “What Is Somatics?” Somatics: Magazine—Journal of the Bodily Arts and Sciences, 1986, pp. 4–8.

—. Bodies in Revolt: A Primer in Somatic Thinking. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970.

Ingold, Tim. Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description. Routledge, 2011.

Kampe, Thomas, et al. editors. Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices, vol.13, no. 1 and 2, 2022.

May, Theresa J. Earth Matters on Stage: Ecology and Environment in American Theatre. Routledge, 2021.

Roth, Gabriele. 5RHYTHMS. Accessed 31 Jan. 2025.

Rufo, Raffaele. “Humans, Trees, and the Intimacy of Movement: An Encounter with Eco-Somatic Practice.” European Journal of Ecological Psychology, vol. 8, 2023, pp. 88–113.

—. “Somatic Arts and Liveable Futures: Embodying Ecological Connections.” Lagoonscapes, edited by Stefano Beggiora, Serenella Iovino. vol. 4, no.1, 2024, pp.199–218.

Sass, Hans-Martin. “Bioethik—Bioethics.” Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte, vol.56, 2014, pp. 221–28.

Tappan, M. Healing Massage Techniques. Reston, 1980.

Trigg, Dylan. The Memory of Place: A Phenomenology of the Uncanny. Ohio UP, 2012.

Zarrilli, Phillip. Psychophysical Acting: An Intercultural Approach after Stanislavski. Routledge, 2009.

—. (Toward) a Phenomenology of Acting. Routledge, 2020.

*Eva Gkadri was born in Athens. She is a performer and dramaturg. She studied in the Department of Theatre Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, as well as in the Department of Theatre and Drama at Trinity College, Dublin. She has been trained in the Theatre Lab of Athens Conservatoire. As a dancer, she trained in the RAD (Royal Academy of Dance)—with “Distinction Honours” for her Intermediate Certificate—and ISTD (Imperial Society of Dance) systems. Her interest is primarily focused on physical theatre, performance studies and multidisciplinary art practices.