INSOMNIA GRECA, Γ’ ΜΕΡΟΣ | THE CHRISTUS MORTUUS INSOMNIA |
THE INSOMNIA OF THE PASSION
[HONOURING THE DEATH OF THE GREAT STRANGER]
29.04.2016
MUNICIPAL THEATRE OF PIRAEUS
Joseph, when he beheld Him, went to Pilate and pleaded, saying:
Give me this stranger,
who from infancy was made a stranger in the world;
give me this stranger,
that I may hide in a tomb
Him who, as a stranger, has nowhere to lay His head.
— Troparion of Good Friday
INSOMNIA GRECA is a trilogy of post-midnight performances and installations that took place at the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus during 2015–2016, at three pivotal moments of Greek folk tradition: Christmas Eve, Carnival Sunday, and Holy Thursday.
The audience could enter the theatre at any time between 12:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. Holding a map indicating the locations of installations and performances, each visitor could choose where to go and in what order. Between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m., audience members, performers, and collaborators gathered in the theatre foyer, where food was served in accordance with the traditional dishes prepared for each specific moment of the year.
The central axis of the trilogy was “The Stranger.”
Part III took place during the night of April 28–29, 2016.
In the third and final Vigil, the notion of the stranger unfolded through the psalmic text in which Joseph of Arimathea asks Pilate for the dead body of Jesus, saying: “Give me this stranger.”
The concepts of Passion, death—both literal and symbolic—lamentation, burial, the human relationship with the other world, and the exile of the hereafter formed the motifs that shaped the narrative. These were articulated through in-situ installations and performances that unfolded across the full extent and multiple levels of the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus.
At the end of this third part of INSOMNIA GRECA, there was once again a communal table—this time a mournful one—where audience and collaborators gathered shortly before dawn on Good Friday.
CONTRIBUTORS
Concept, artistic direction, dramaturgy: Konstantinos Ntellas
Creative team: Andreas Skourtis, Konstantina Mardiki, Nefeli Sotiraki
Music composition, sound design: Alexandros Ktistakis
Lighting design, promo: Panagiotis Lampis
Assistant director – video editing: Gkely Pentefounti
Participants in performances and installations (alphabetical order):
Eirini Amanatidou, Evelyn Asouant, Haris Attonis, Maria Georgopoulou, Georgia Griva, Angeliki Dalagkeli, Tato Dede, Spyros Detsikas, Michalis Kaliotsos, Paola Kalliga, Panos Kammenos, Marianna Karava, Stefania Karagianni, Manos Karatzogiannis, Maria Koskina, Myrto Koulouridi, Alexandros Ktistakis, Sandra Leivadara, Rita Lytou, Androniki Marathaki, Stavros Markoulakis, Tia Menouti, Sofia Moutidou, Marianna Bartzou, Iliana Baferou, Petros Botsos, Konstantinos Domouchtsis, Zoi Xanthopoulou, Mary Xenou, Fani Panagiotidou, Christos Rozakis, Despina Sarafidou, Aristi Spyrou, Lina Stavropoulou, Stefania Stavropoulou, Argyro Tambakou, Valia Filiagkou, Tasos Fois
Photography: Fotis Plegas
Production coordination & communication: Giorgos Katsonis
Assistant producer: Maria Konstantopoulou
Production: Municipal Theatre of Piraeus
LINKS
THE CHRISTUS MORTUUS INSOMNIA TRAILER