Three by Three: Guest Artists in Focus
QUESTION 2. I Have a Flight to Frankfurt at Half Past Ten explores the borderland between truth and imagination. What draws you to narratives where reality blurs into invention?
ANSWER 2. Life itself is one big frontier between truth and imagination. My perception — my loves, my hates, my traumas, my desires — shapes the way I see reality. And the same goes for every person. Each of us carries a singular vision of the world that somehow converges into something “real” for everyone. I Have a Flight to Frankfurt at Half Past Ten plays with that in a way that’s both tragic and humorous. The only unquestionable truth is that she has a flight to Frankfurt at ten-thirty. Everything else might be invented. And for each of us, what would be that one undeniable truth, the one irrevocable fact that sustains our entire existence?
Kika Hamaoui
Playwright, Screenwriter, Poet, Author
BIO: Hi! I’m Kika Hamaoui, a Brazilian writer and playwright raised in Rio de Janeiro. I like to look at beauty and pain and turn it into words — that’s why I write so much. I’ve published four books, a graphic novel, a handful of scripts out in the world, and recently my new play, I Have a Flight to Frankfurt at Half Past Ten, came to life on stage in London. I hope you enjoy the journey!
INSTAGRAM: @kikahamaoui
QUESTION 3. You describe all your work as “100% human-made” and rooted in a poetic way of looking at the world. What does retaining full human authorship mean to you in an era of increasingly automated creative production?
ANSWER 3. No artificial intelligence is capable of suffering. And suffering — the pain, the restlessness of remaining human — is something only humans can experience. We’ve been trying harder and harder to numb ourselves, to find easy exits from pain. But that’s impossible. To be alive is to desire and to suffer, to deal with what’s missing. Through art, through writing, through theatre, we can welcome one another and show that living isn’t easy — but it can be delicious. And that we’re together in this strange adventure that crosses space and time.
QUESTION 1. Your work spans literature, theatre, screenwriting, and even graphic novels. How does shifting between these forms influence the rhythm, structure, or emotional texture of your storytelling?
ANSWER 1. Writing is a journey that takes me to different and unimaginable places. Sometimes I choose the destination; other times, the destination chooses me. Each form asks for — and permits — a different emotional texture. In literature, especially when I’m writing short stories or poetry, I work a lot with stream of consciousness. A novel, like a screenplay, demands structure and delicacy. Comics are the most challenging form — you have to write and direct at the same time. And theatre, in turn, is a kind of magic that resembles creating a human being. It’s absolutely impossible to do alone. I invent the text, the character walks and gains shape in the actor’s body. The director points the way, refines the form, and little by little each of us adds a piece — something that only becomes real through the eyes and the witnessing of the audience.
I Have a Flight to Frankfurt at Half Past Ten at Etcetera Theatre, London. Actress: Fernanda Peviani. Photo: Jhenelle White
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Artwork may not be reproduced in any form without the artist's express written permission.
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