The active theatre company C. for Circus’ new production You, Nature! is a special theatre and music performance based on Chinese writer Yan Lianke’s novel The Years, Months, Days. It talks about a year when draught seemed to never end. From morning to evening, an old man known as the Elder, the story’s central figure, can almost hear his hair burning. A terrible draught forces the inhabitants of a remote mountainous village to flee – all but this old man and a blind dog, who could not withstand the exhausting journey across the mountains in search of food and water. The Elder is keeping watch over a single ear of corn that has grown in the infertile land. Devoted to it and to the hope it gives him, every single day he fights against defeat, every single day he wins a victory over death. A stubborn struggle for survival until the final dramatic climax, when one of them must sacrifice himself so that the other one can survive and keep the corn ear alive. A story about the power of life!
A wandering across Northern Greece, guided by great geographer Strabo, with the goal of introducing us to the climate and the works of the people of his and our time. Climate change is characteristically described not by Strabo himself but by “Pseudo-Strabo”: “Oh, I’ve messed things up / I’ve been swept by the tsunami / And I will go about at home / with a mask and in a diver’s suit”.
Two actors and an onstage musician converse, sing and improvise on texts of the past and experiences of the present. A hyper-sensitive citizen with particular ecological concerns is the only person who applies for the educational programme “Lifelong learning, environment, climate change and health”. A renowned academician undertakes the difficult task of educating him with impressive consequences.
Two performers introduce the audience to an archaeological site, not seen as a field of human activity but as a field of action of non-human beings, the animals that have inhabited it over time. From the animals of the past, those we recognise today on the geological fossils and archaeological material, to the animals that live there today, as well as to their future prospects. A renegotiation of man’s relationship with the world, towards a more wholistic understanding of the past and the present.
The production BESTIARIO is a continuation of the company’s ten-year-long effort to achieve a combination of theatre and archaeology, which they love so much to explore: how can theatrical means be used to approach the archaeological material from a fresh perspective, while strengthening the ties with the local community, and how can archaeological tools (like excavations, the study of findings etc.) contribute to the creation of a site-specific play?
A variation of ancient myths aimed at awakening people to the climate crisis. Persephone, the goddess of the vegetative cycle, has been locked into a new labyrinth by scientist Daedalus, a representative of humanity, so that she can provide him with the absolute control of earth’s resources. Her second abduction not only prevents her from having contact with her mother Demeter, the personification of the Earth, but also from returning to her kingdom, the Underworld. Demeter, weeping over her daughter’s disappearance, is looking for her everywhere again, causing extreme and destructive weather phenomena in her wake. She will be helped by Caerus, a symbol of opportunity, who will reveal to her where her daughter is being kept. There, Demeter will attempt to convince Daedalus to set Persephone free, yet blinded by arrogance, he will remain unmoved. After that, the two of them will exchange accusations in a speech contest. Will reconciliation be achieved or will both of them be led to hubris and destruction?
What are the prospects for Western Macedonia after the lignite phase-out? How will lignite be replaced to restore the environment? Historical documents, archival material and interviews with locals are all blended with fictional elements, illuminating the multi-aspected dimensions of the issue while bringing out the tragicality of the lack of an actual way out. At the heart of the dilemma is the attempted reversal of climate change, in face of the economic withering and decrease in population in the area. The people of Western Macedonia, if not given any productive alternative for growth, will have to balance between the slow death of economic withering and an equally slow death due to an environmental destruction with visible effects on their health. A performance blending theatre and music, with actors, a live band, and 15 supporting actors from local residents and representatives of civil society, who serve as a modern chorus, a witness and a judge.
2071 is a “dramatised lecture” by climate scientist Chris Rapley and acclaimed British writer Duncan Macmillan (Lungs, Every Brilliant Thing) that was first presented at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2014, and this year, approximately ten years later, will be staged for the first time in Greece.
It is a theatrical soliloquy based on Rapley’s scientific course and his findings. Analyzing possible solutions, he seems rather cautious about how the problem of overpopulation could be solved and places his hopes upon renewable energy sources, while pondering on what kind of future we want to create.
Manos Karatzogiannis, after a series of successful soliloquies (including Guardian of a Revolution, He, the Other and His Pants, Fleury’s Song) directs Antonis Myriagos with the help of musician Tilemachos Moussas, who performs live – and symbolically – theremin on stage.
In Larissa, at an ancient theatre among modern blocks of flats, in a place where the past and the present have to co-exist, a new life will be born. Starting with music, dancing and Seferis’ poetry, a celebration will be held. Through repetitive dance motifs, drawing inspiration from pop culture, Greek tradition and Walt Disney’s cartoons, a rebirth ceremony will be held in a place where time is reset to zero. Five persons will meet. They will wait. A sixth person will come and they will welcome him. They will bid him farewell and resurrect him. They will dance with him in the dark. Nature will die and will be born again. Man will die and will be born again. Again, in the dark. Music. A New Life. – Antonis Antonopoulos
A traveller along with her aids arrive at an unknown, destroyed land, which is however full of hidden traces from its previous “inhabitants”. The numerous accounts and testimonies found in this place (some are read, others are sung, and others are reproduced by machines) reveal the causes that have shaped today’s reality. The performance Night on Earth directed by Alexandros Koen is a suspenseful thriller, during which the travellers (with the help of audience members) must gather as much evidence as possible.
From the Bible to the Romantics, for two whole millennia, the relationship of Man with Nature has been at the heart of poetic creation. Man is a child of Nature: he cannot exist but on Nature’s terms. Excerpts from the Bible and works of William Blake, Samuel Coleridge, Goethe, Novalis, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Solomos, and Sikelianos – revolving around Byron’s great apocalyptic poem “Darkness” – are all selectively bound together and complete each other.
An experiential theatrical tour across the visual art installation The Museum of Unnatural History by Dulcinea Compania. Bringing to life Salman Rushdie’s novel Luka and the Fire of Life, Luka and his two favourite animals, the dog and the bear, introduce us to the memories of their adventurous journey into a nature that has become unnatural due to human intervention. Our hero discovers his supernatural agony for animals, insects and sea creatures, as he wanders across a world, where everything is altered, industrialised, degenerated. The reason for his trip: his father has fallen into an eternal sleep and Luka will be able to wake him up only if he solves the metaphysical mystery of the history of Man and Nature.
Based on William Shakespeare’s poem of the same title, the performance The Rape of Lucretia(Lucrece) refers to the sufferings of the planet. Noble Lucretia is raped by the
ruler’s son. To save her honour, she invites her friends and relatives and tells them what has happened. Then she kills herself in front of them. Lucretia’s dead body is exposed to public view, the people of Rome revolts, the ruler is chased away and monarchy becomes replaced by democracy. Lucretia in the performance symbolizes the Earth that is constantly being raped by those holding the power and money. The musical and visual setting accompanying the poetic speech underlines the need to find a way to co-exist on the planet through the prism of responsibility, respect and awareness of the consequences of our actions.