The Bacchae

Hybrid
Text
Stage Direction
Concept
2023

"The performance lifts off the ground and turns into an ecstatic burst of energy", Christian Weijts | DE GROENE AMSTERDAMMER [NL]

About

The piece begins in a politically correct world with suffocating gender labels under the banner of freedom of expression. A meteor called Dionysus is expected to collide and destroy the earth, but when Dionysus arrives, he instead calls for the fulfillment of everyone’s deepest desires…

Papakonstantinou delves into the famous Greek tragedy about Dionysus (God of wine and pleasure) and uses it to cross all kinds of borders. Text-based theatre segues into musical theatre, opera and dance while a specially designed seismograph transforms stage vibrations into sounds in real time.

Co-produced by

La Filature, Scene Nationale de Mulhouse (FR), Holland Festival (NL), Festival de Marseille (FR), Athens Epidaurus Festival (GR), Romaeuropa Festival (IT), La Strada Festival (AT), Teatro Nazionale di Genova (IT), ODC Ensemble

With the Support of the Greek Ministry of Culture
Residency Espace des Arts, Scène Nationale Chalon-Sur-Saone (FR)

Director's Note

As a director, I follow the flows of text, live music, video art and dance in search of a new performative language. This piece lies at the intersection of these flows: queer is a new aesthetic; here I embrace pop, kitsch and high art celebrating diversity: I wish that my audience moves from the mind to the senses with the perplexity and ambiguity of desire and sexuality: class struggle, politics and aesthetic folly merge into a vortex: Dionysiac life itself.

Credits

Concept / Art Direction: Elli Papakonstantinou
Text: Elli Papakonstantinou, Chloe Tzia Kolyri, Kakia Goudeli

Choreography: SINE QUA NON ART – Christophe Béranger & Jonathan Pranlas Descours
Original Songs & Music Composition: Ariah Lester
Electroacoustic Compositions / Interactive Sound Design Istallation: Lambros Pigounis
Set Design: Maria Panourgia
Video Art / Live Video Design: Pantelis Makkas
Costume Design: Ioanna Tsami
Light Design: Marietta Pavlaki
Stage Vibration Sensor & Seismograph design: Giannis Kranidiotis
Technical Coordination: Lambros Pigounis

Assistant to the Director A: Spiros Sourvinos
Reaserch Consultant: Louisa Arkoumanea
Collaboration on Dramaturgy: Ariah Lester, Haris Kalaitzidis

Photography: Alex Kat
Trailer: Sideris Nanoudis

Tour & Development Managment: Laurent Langlois
ODC Office Direction: Gina Zorba
Assistant to the Director B: Christianna Toka, Katerina Savvoglou
Assistant to the Director C: Katerina Hristaki
Assistant to the Set Designer: Sofia Theodoraki
Assistant to the Video Artist: Anthi Paraskeva-Veloudogianni

Performers: Ariah Lester, Georgios Iatrou, Hara Kotsali, Lito Messini, Vasilis Boutsikos, Aris Papadopoulos

Dates

March 17–18, 2023 La Filature - Scène nationale Mulhouse, France

June 10–11, 2023 Holland Festival Amsterdam, Netherlands June 21–22, 2023 Festival de Marseille Marseille, France July 4-6, 2023 Athens Epidaurus Festival Athens, Greece September 30 - October 1, 2023 Romaeuropa Festival Rome, Italy October 12-12, 2023 Scene Nationale Chalon-Sur-Saone, France

November 10-11, 2023 Teatro Nazionale di Genova Genova, Italy

The Bacchae - Teaser

The Bacchae - Trailer

Gallery: The Bacchae

Reviews

Laura Cappelle | THE NEW YORK TIMES [US]

“A commanding performance!”

Christian Weijts | DE GROENE AMSTERDAMMER [NL]

"The performance lifts off the ground and turns into an ecstatic burst of energy that no longer speaks through the mind but acts directly on the senses. It is rousing, sexual but above all suggestive, also because the participants in this orgy rarely have contact with each other. All genres have now been broken through: dance, theatre, literature, performance, film, pop, classical opera."

Wijbrand Schaap | CULTUURPERS [NL]

"Nietzsche, hard beats, and beautiful opera voices in a wild plea for queerness. [...] A multicolored representation. There is beautiful opera singing, raves, beats, there is noise ."

Federic Bonfils | FOUD’ART [FR]

"Elli Papakonstantinou has created a contemporary adaptation, which is a theatrical vortex, a performative and explosive mixture of genres. With her impactful staging (...) this piece offers a powerful and exciting experience."

Luc Maechel | RACINE NOMADES [FR]

“For Papakonstantinou, Euripides' play provides the frame for a proposal to a joyful apocalypse. The show pulses and goes in all directions with such a festive spirit (...) a bewilderment at the breach of theatrical follie, a baroque Orlando furioso (...) as passion explodes through the skin, the bodies, the pores, the emotions in disruption with the dominant culture, definitely the patriarchal culture.”

Frégaville-Gratian d'Amore | L’ŒIL D’OLIVIER [FR]

“The music, rock/contemporary, functions like a haunting rumor that splits from operatic flights to pop songs appropriating the too much aspect of the queer. A certainty: the undeniable talent of the artists on stage, singers, performers that carry with their luminous and fully embodied presence, this theatrical piece.”