We should take her hands down now, away from her face, and place them, folded, on her belly, shouldn’t we?
We’ve tried, but it’s impossible, because rigor mortis has already developed.
She’s buried her face in her hands because she was crying.
Why, no! She was laughing. She just couldn’t stop laughing.
Or maybe it was because it was too bright around her? She wanted to protect her eyes from the brightness. With her hands.
Perhaps she’s hiding something beneath them.
I would like to look at her face one more time.
Yes, so would I. Maybe it isn’t her after all?
Of course it is her. It’s Cleo.*
This set of tarot cards was created by Luna Zscharnt and Greta Markurt for their play CLEO ODER EINE KURZE, BESCHWERLICHE REISE OHNE HAPPY END, a live-film theatre adaptation of Agnes Varda's 60s classic CLEO DE 5 À 7 which they premiered at P14 VOLKSBÜHNE, Berlin.
As its cinematic original, the play is an observation of Cleo - a singer; young, famous, and possibly terminally ill. It follows Cleo wandering restlessly while waiting for results of a medical examination. A picture of a world unfolds which consists of a thousand little pieces: a big mirror, lots of hats and mice, a frog, an otherworldly taxi, a helicopter on a roof, a lover's broken heart, trust, lost and found, coincidental encounters, dreams, superstitions, intuitions, side characters who are actually main characters, big questions and possibly smaller answers.
This world may be Cleo's but maybe it doesn't belong to anyone.
* English translation of the German original text by Josefin Fischer
Cards by Greta Markurt @gretamarkurt & Luna Zscharnt @lunaz.photography
