THE OLD WOMEN WHO PICK NETTLES

Following the continuous sell-out performances and the enthusiastic reception by audiences and critics in Thessaly and Athens, “The Old Women Who Pick Nettles”, researched, adapted and directed by Konstantinos Dellas, is coming to Kavala and the Antigone Valakou Theatre for only 3 performances, on Tuesday 13th, Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th February at 9pm.

The performance is a theatrical exploration of the elderly female body and its connection to folk magic, cooking, and ritual practices. It begins in the region of Thessaly, known for its tradition of magical practices, where the witches of the area were believed to have received their secret skills from Medea, specializing in moon-downing or “milking the moon.” This secret journey is narrated by three female characters who alternate between the familiar and the archetypal—the harmless “grandmother” and the dangerous healer—sharing their lives, what they’ve learned from their elders, the hardships they’ve faced as women, and what they pass on to future generations.

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, provincial women lived in the shadow of dominant male authority, marginalized and excluded from decision-making processes reserved for men. In Thessaly, these women contributed to the family’s economic production by working in the fields and providing food for their families, though always within the confines of the home.

Through this, they developed a secret code and latent power based on magic and herbal knowledge, known as “practices,” including “xematiasma” (the removal of the evil eye) and other skills. These practices involved the use of cooking ingredients, regional herbs and grasses, oil, water, and flour.

These “Women of the Earth”have remained invisible for years even to researchers who did not consider a woman’s word on the history of a place worth recording. This performance brings their personal and collective narratives to life through three young male actors, who use the raw materials of ritual processes, such as disguise, masks, and the coordination of language and body, as expressive tools. They weave a turbulent narrative that spans from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Lucan’s Pharsalia to contemporary Greek literature by Thomas Psyrras, incorporating older narratives, recipes, 19th-century medical codes, and contemporary interviews conducted during the performances in Thessaly.

The performance “The Old Women Who Pick Nettles” is a work in progress, bridging performance art and social anthropology, with a focus on the social roles and gender dimensions of food and folk magical-religious practices. The theatrical text continually evolves, fed by the volume of interviews conducted alongside the performances. The audience is invited to participate in the research and, if they wish, contribute to the ongoing recording of the oral history that has been collected since the performances began.