THE GREEK VAMPIRE [RELOADED] | JUNE – SEPTEMBER 2017

Museums of the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation

“Tell me, Thanasis, why do you stand upright,

mute like a relic before my eyes;

why, my Thanasis, do you wander at night—

is there no sleep for you even in Hades?”

(Thanasis Vayias or The Vrykolakas, by Aristotelis Valaoritis)

The performance “The Greek Vampire [reloaded]”, in its second version, explores a lesser-known chapter of Greek folklore: the phenomenon of the vrykolakas (revenant) as it appeared in modern Greek history. Drawing on the diaries of foreign travelers in pre-revolutionary Greece, newspaper articles, local myths, oral traditions, and literary texts, a metaphysical troupe narrates the sufferings and collective hysteria of people faced with the fear of vrykolakas.

Guided by a physical performance code and the musicality of language, the production follows a site-specific approach. It develops from the very space in which it is presented, creatively engaging with its conceptual and spatial particularities, and invites the audience not merely to watch, but to enter this uncanny world.

The performance was presented on the occasion of the summer full moons at three museums of the PIOP Network, as well as at the PIOP Historical Archive in Athens:

9 June – Museum of Silversmithing, Ioannina

7 July – Open-Air Water Power Museum, Dimitsana

6 August – Museum of Marble Crafts, Tinos

8–9–10 & 15–16–17 September – PIOP Historical Archive, Athens

CONTRIBUTORS

Concept – Direction – Dramaturgy: Konstantinos Ntellas

Costume Artistic Supervision: Konstantina Mardiki

Artistic Supervision & Construction of Scenic Objects: Christos Symeonidis

Music Composition & Sound Design: Alexandros Ktistakis

Lighting Design: Panagiotis Lampis

Costume Construction Consultant: Adamantia Notaroglou

Cast: Andreas Kyriakou, Lemonia Ntallari, Konstantinos Ntellas, Fani Panagiotidou, Despoina–Dorina Remediaki