INSOMNIA GRECA, PART II

THE ADEUS CARNE INSOMNIA | THE INSOMNIA OF CARNIVAL

[CELEBRATING THE ARRIVAL OF A FOREIGN GOD] | 14.03.2016

MUNICIPAL THEATRE OF PIRAEUS

“They say a stranger has appeared

From the lands of Lydia

He sings, he enchants

He has long hair

Blond, perfumed curls

His face glows with the color of wine”

[Bacchae, Euripides]

 

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 that indicated the locations of installations and performances, each visitor could choose where to go and in which order. Between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m., audience members, performers, and collaborators gathered in the theatre foyer, where food was served according to the traditional dishes prepared for each specific time of the year.

The central axis of the trilogy was “The Stranger.”

 

Part II took place during the night of March 13–14, 2016.

In April 1884, during the excavations for the foundations of the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus, the first strikes of the pickaxe revealed masonry foundations and three inscriptions identifying the site as a house of Dionysian worshippers.

In the shadow of this Dionysian association, a series of in-situ installations and performances was created, forming a spatial narrative where fragments from The Bacchae by Euripides coexisted with ecclesiastical hymns and bawdy traditional songs, articulated through an associative and surreal language.

 

 

CONTRIBUTORS

 

Concept, artistic direction, dramaturgy: Konstantinos Ntellas

Creative team: Andreas Skourtis, Konstantina Mardiki, Nefeli Sotiraki

Music composition, sound design: Alexandros Ktistakis

Lighting design, photography – promo video: Panagiotis Lampis

Performers:

Miltiadis Fiorentzis, Rita Lytou, Maria Koskina, Katerina Latta, Panos Kammenos, Maria Georgopoulou, among others

Musicians: Eleni Tsampouri, Gkintiki

Vocals: Elena Georgiou

Production management – communication: Giorgos Katsonis

Assistant producer: Maria Konstantopoulou

Production: Municipal Theatre of Piraeus

 

LINKS

 

INSOMNIA GRECA / THE ADEUS CARNE INSOMNIA, ΔΗΘΕΠΕΙ ΜΑΡΤΙΟΣ 2016

THE ADEUS CARNE INSOMNIA/DOCUMENTATION @ΔΗΜΟΤΙΚΟ ΘΕΑΤΡΟ ΠΕΙΡΑΙΑ