THE CAVE is a cyber punk opera on a popular theme Matrix. An oratorical opera in the intersection between opera, cinema and new technologies, this radical performance calls for critical reflection on fake news and post truth. It’s a contemporary reinterpretation of Plato’s famous “cave” allegory. Shadow puppetry, new media, visuals and music are all performed in real time by a cast of four. Nothing is ever still. THE CAVE challenges the boundaries of contemporary opera, drawing from a variety of music genres. In the intersection of reality and fantasy, material & immaterial, with an emphasis on the exploration of self-truth. The staged transcription of the philosophical text is interwoven with intertextual adds – Buddhist sutras, hyperrealistic conversations etc.- and pinholes onto today’s world. Socrates is a robot’s voice and this sarcasm runs through out the piece. while mythological creatures pass as shadows of another world all too close to ours; In Plato’s allegory people are chained in a cave and they are facing the inside of the cave whereupon they see the shadows of the outside world. In so doing, they interpret “reality” through this optic of the shadows. The cave brings out how the two-dimensional vision of the three-dimensional life translates in today’s realities in misconceptions that we may have regarding what’s going on as for example in the domains of politics, of society and of course ethics.

Award-winning REVOLT ATHENΣ relates criticism and poetry avoiding radical “in-your-face” political discourse and it is highly interactive. Rejecting the flat, washed out image often painted of Greece’s capital, this is an Athens that’s bursting with life. In REVOLT ATHENΣ, the three-piece, politically-minded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece. In ODC Ensemble’s unique city guide, activist communities are framed in terms of Greece’s wider history; intertwined with figures of Greek mythology, there are tear gas-choked riots against government austerity cutbacks. Combining actors, video footage and music, it’s a multi-faceted window into the living and breathing reality of a place.

REVOLT ATHENΣ was proudly presented for the European Parliament for Culture in the frame of the Operadagen Festival 2017 and awarded a First Prize Award for the REP, Birmingham at the BE Festival in July 2017.

Oedipus: Sex with Mum was Blinding is a hybrid opera libretto and direction by Elli Papakonstantinou, music composion by Julia Kent and Tilemachos Mousas. The piece draws from cognitive science and the myth of “Oedipus Rex” and was developed during the director’s visit at CCRMA. Originally designed for a cast of seven, this is an abbreviated version featuring a mix of live actors that are folded into an array of surreal cinematic environments. Through a series of scientific experiments, audience engagement plays an essential role in the execution of the piece. Atonal, electroacoustic compositions weave throughout the opera while Grammy nominee, Julia Kent, performs cello on stage in a constant stream of visuals and live action. Oedipus: Sex with Mum was Blinding will be presented at the BAM Theatre in New York in September and a full production of the piece will take place in Athens in the Autumn of 2019 with the participation of cognitive scientists from the Warburg Institute, University of London.

THE CAVE is a cyber punk opera on a popular theme Matrix. An oratorical opera in the intersection between opera, cinema and new technologies, this radical performance calls for critical reflection on fake news and post truth. It’s a contemporary reinterpretation of Plato’s famous “cave” allegory. Shadow puppetry, new media, visuals and music are all performed in real time by a cast of four. Nothing is ever still. THE CAVE challenges the boundaries of contemporary opera, drawing from a variety of music genres. In the intersection of reality and fantasy, material & immaterial, with an emphasis on the exploration of self-truth. The staged transcription of the philosophical text is interwoven with intertextual adds – Buddhist sutras, hyperrealistic conversations etc.- and pinholes onto today’s world. Socrates is a robot’s voice and this sarcasm runs through out the piece. while mythological creatures pass as shadows of another world all too close to ours; In Plato’s allegory people are chained in a cave and they are facing the inside of the cave whereupon they see the shadows of the outside world. In so doing, they interpret “reality” through this optic of the shadows. The cave brings out how the two-dimensional vision of the three-dimensional life translates in today’s realities in misconceptions that we may have regarding what’s going on as for example in the domains of politics, of society and of course ethics.

Award-winning REVOLT ATHENΣ relates criticism and poetry avoiding radical “in-your-face” political discourse and it is highly interactive. Rejecting the flat, washed out image often painted of Greece’s capital, this is an Athens that’s bursting with life. In REVOLT ATHENΣ, the three-piece, politically-minded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece. In ODC Ensemble’s unique city guide, activist communities are framed in terms of Greece’s wider history; intertwined with figures of Greek mythology, there are tear gas-choked riots against government austerity cutbacks. Combining actors, video footage and music, it’s a multi-faceted window into the living and breathing reality of a place.

REVOLT ATHENΣ was proudly presented for the European Parliament for Culture in the frame of the Operadagen Festival 2017 and awarded a First Prize Award for the REP, Birmingham at the BE Festival in July 2017.

It is a mysterious thing, this process of creating a new work. Curious to the dark, committed to translating what is not yet there, all along the process of rehearsing with no certainty of sound or of what to say. Step-by-step, the text, the sound and the body of the performance gradually took shape. That is exciting and scary at the same time. During this process, some writers remained very close to us becoming our precious guides to a world all too cold and stiff: the “Kindly Ones” by Aeschylus, Thukidides’ “Epitaph”, Purcell’s “Cold Song” and of course the texts and poems of Iakovos Kambanellis, the Greek survivor of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. As from the very beginning we questioned how to touch upon the Holocaust in a light and even humorous way, we soon found ourselves shifting between the ritual and the political sarcasm, the metaphysical and the pragmatic in search of the right tone. In the end, the final assemblage of emotions, thoughts and music was almost a matter of chance.

Elli Papakonstantinou

It is a mysterious thing, this process of creating a new work. Curious to the dark, committed to translating what is not yet there, all along the process of rehearsing with no certainty of sound or of what to say. Step-by-step, the text, the sound and the body of the performance gradually took shape. That is exciting and scary at the same time. During this process, some writers remained very close to us becoming our precious guides to a world all too cold and stiff: the “Kindly Ones” by Aeschylus, Thukidides’ “Epitaph”, Purcell’s “Cold Song” and of course the texts and poems of Iakovos Kambanellis, the Greek survivor of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. As from the very beginning we questioned how to touch upon the Holocaust in a light and even humorous way, we soon found ourselves shifting between the ritual and the political sarcasm, the metaphysical and the pragmatic in search of the right tone. In the end, the final assemblage of emotions, thoughts and music was almost a matter of chance.

Elli Papakonstantinou

THE CAVE is a cyber punk opera on a popular theme Matrix. An oratorical opera in the intersection between opera, cinema and new technologies, this radical performance calls for critical reflection on fake news and post truth. It’s a contemporary reinterpretation of Plato’s famous “cave” allegory. Shadow puppetry, new media, visuals and music are all performed in real time by a cast of four. Nothing is ever still. THE CAVE challenges the boundaries of contemporary opera, drawing from a variety of music genres. In the intersection of reality and fantasy, material & immaterial, with an emphasis on the exploration of self-truth. The staged transcription of the philosophical text is interwoven with intertextual adds – Buddhist sutras, hyperrealistic conversations etc.- and pinholes onto today’s world. Socrates is a robot’s voice and this sarcasm runs through out the piece. while mythological creatures pass as shadows of another world all too close to ours; In Plato’s allegory people are chained in a cave and they are facing the inside of the cave whereupon they see the shadows of the outside world. In so doing, they interpret “reality” through this optic of the shadows. The cave brings out how the two-dimensional vision of the three-dimensional life translates in today’s realities in misconceptions that we may have regarding what’s going on as for example in the domains of politics, of society and of course ethics.

photo: © Elias Moraitis

Award-winning REVOLT ATHENΣ relates criticism and poetry avoiding radical “in-your-face” political discourse and it is highly interactive. Rejecting the flat, washed out image often painted of Greece’s capital, this is an Athens that’s bursting with life. In REVOLT ATHENΣ, the three-piece, politically-minded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece. In ODC Ensemble’s unique city guide, activist communities are framed in terms of Greece’s wider history; intertwined with figures of Greek mythology, there are tear gas-choked riots against government austerity cutbacks. Combining actors, video footage and music, it’s a multi-faceted window into the living and breathing reality of a place.

REVOLT ATHENΣ was proudly presented for the European Parliament for Culture in the frame of the Operadagen Festival 2017 and awarded a First Prize Award for the REP, Birmingham at the BE Festival in July 2017.

photo: © Alex Kat Photography, artwork: Pantelis Makkas

Creative Lenses Final Conference “Culture and Business Models in Challenging Times” is a two-day event that explores how arts and cultural organisations can adapt to changing environments and become more sustainable by rethinking their business models. It brings together the leading cultural practitioners, funders, policymakers and researchers to speculate on organisational sustainability, business model change and cultural value within the sector.
The Conference includes insights, perspectives and tools developed during a four-year collaboration project, Creative Lenses, funded by the Creative Europe programme and connects these with other initiatives, projects and collaborations in Europe and beyond.

Oedipus: Sex with Mum was Blinding is a hybrid opera libretto and direction by Elli Papakonstantinou, music composion by Julia Kent and Tilemachos Mousas. The piece draws from cognitive science and the myth of “Oedipus Rex” and was developed during the director’s visit at CCRMA. Originally designed for a cast of seven, this is an abbreviated version featuring a mix of live actors that are folded into an array of surreal cinematic environments. Through a series of scientific experiments, audience engagement plays an essential role in the execution of the piece. Atonal, electroacoustic compositions weave throughout the opera while Grammy nominee, Julia Kent, performs cello on stage in a constant stream of visuals and live action. A full production of the piece will take place in Athens at the Old National Opera House in September 2019 with the participation of cognitive scientists from the Warburg Institute, University of London.

THE CAVE is a cyber punk opera on a popular theme Matrix. An oratorical opera in the intersection between opera, cinema and new technologies, this radical performance calls for critical reflection on fake news and post truth. It’s a contemporary reinterpretation of Plato’s famous “cave” allegory. Shadow puppetry, new media, visuals and music are all performed in real time by a cast of four. Nothing is ever still. THE CAVE challenges the boundaries of contemporary opera, drawing from a variety of music genres. In the intersection of reality and fantasy, material & immaterial, with an emphasis on the exploration of self-truth. The staged transcription of the philosophical text is interwoven with intertextual adds – Buddhist sutras, hyperrealistic conversations etc.- and pinholes onto today’s world. Socrates is a robot’s voice and this sarcasm runs through out the piece. while mythological creatures pass as shadows of another world all too close to ours; In Plato’s allegory people are chained in a cave and they are facing the inside of the cave whereupon they see the shadows of the outside world. In so doing, they interpret “reality” through this optic of the shadows. The cave brings out how the two-dimensional vision of the three-dimensional life translates in today’s realities in misconceptions that we may have regarding what’s going on as for example in the domains of politics, of society and of course ethics.

photo: © Karol Jarek

THE CAVE is a cyber punk opera on a popular theme Matrix. An oratorical opera in the intersection between opera, cinema and new technologies, this radical performance calls for critical reflection on fake news and post truth. It’s a contemporary reinterpretation of Plato’s famous “cave” allegory. Shadow puppetry, new media, visuals and music are all performed in real time by a cast of four. Nothing is ever still. THE CAVE challenges the boundaries of contemporary opera, drawing from a variety of music genres. In the intersection of reality and fantasy, material & immaterial, with an emphasis on the exploration of self-truth. The staged transcription of the philosophical text is interwoven with intertextual adds – Buddhist sutras, hyperrealistic conversations etc.- and pinholes onto today’s world. Socrates is a robot’s voice and this sarcasm runs through out the piece. while mythological creatures pass as shadows of another world all too close to ours; In Plato’s allegory people are chained in a cave and they are facing the inside of the cave whereupon they see the shadows of the outside world. In so doing, they interpret “reality” through this optic of the shadows. The cave brings out how the two-dimensional vision of the three-dimensional life translates in today’s realities in misconceptions that we may have regarding what’s going on as for example in the domains of politics, of society and of course ethics.

Award-winning REVOLT ATHENΣ relates criticism and poetry avoiding radical “in-your-face” political discourse and it is highly interactive. Rejecting the flat, washed out image often painted of Greece’s capital, this is an Athens that’s bursting with life. In REVOLT ATHENΣ, the three-piece, politically-minded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece. In ODC Ensemble’s unique city guide, activist communities are framed in terms of Greece’s wider history; intertwined with figures of Greek mythology, there are tear gas-choked riots against government austerity cutbacks. Combining actors, video footage and music, it’s a multi-faceted window into the living and breathing reality of a place.

REVOLT ATHENΣ was proudly presented for the European Parliament for Culture in the frame of the Operadagen Festival 2017 and awarded a First Prize Award for the REP, Birmingham at the BE Festival in July 2017.

THE CAVE is a cyber punk opera on a popular theme Matrix. An oratorical opera in the intersection between opera, cinema and new technologies, this radical performance calls for critical reflection on fake news and post truth. It’s a contemporary reinterpretation of Plato’s famous “cave” allegory. Shadow puppetry, new media, visuals and music are all performed in real time by a cast of four. Nothing is ever still. THE CAVE challenges the boundaries of contemporary opera, drawing from a variety of music genres. In the intersection of reality and fantasy, material & immaterial, with an emphasis on the exploration of self-truth. The staged transcription of the philosophical text is interwoven with intertextual adds – Buddhist sutras, hyperrealistic conversations etc.- and pinholes onto today’s world. Socrates is a robot’s voice and this sarcasm runs through out the piece. while mythological creatures pass as shadows of another world all too close to ours; In Plato’s allegory people are chained in a cave and they are facing the inside of the cave whereupon they see the shadows of the outside world. In so doing, they interpret “reality” through this optic of the shadows. The cave brings out how the two-dimensional vision of the three-dimensional life translates in today’s realities in misconceptions that we may have regarding what’s going on as for example in the domains of politics, of society and of course ethics.

THE CAVE is a cyber punk opera on a popular theme Matrix. An oratorical opera in the intersection between opera, cinema and new technologies, this radical performance calls for critical reflection on fake news and post truth. It’s a contemporary reinterpretation of Plato’s famous “cave” allegory. Shadow puppetry, new media, visuals and music are all performed in real time by a cast of four. Nothing is ever still. THE CAVE challenges the boundaries of contemporary opera, drawing from a variety of music genres. In the intersection of reality and fantasy, material & immaterial, with an emphasis on the exploration of self-truth. The staged transcription of the philosophical text is interwoven with intertextual adds – Buddhist sutras, hyperrealistic conversations etc.- and pinholes onto today’s world. Socrates is a robot’s voice and this sarcasm runs through out the piece. while mythological creatures pass as shadows of another world all too close to ours; In Plato’s allegory people are chained in a cave and they are facing the inside of the cave whereupon they see the shadows of the outside world. In so doing, they interpret “reality” through this optic of the shadows. The cave brings out how the two-dimensional vision of the three-dimensional life translates in today’s realities in misconceptions that we may have regarding what’s going on as for example in the domains of politics, of society and of course ethics.

THE CAVE is a cyber punk opera on a popular theme Matrix. An oratorical opera in the intersection between opera, cinema and new technologies, this radical performance calls for critical reflection on fake news and post truth. It’s a contemporary reinterpretation of Plato’s famous “cave” allegory. Shadow puppetry, new media, visuals and music are all performed in real time by a cast of four. Nothing is ever still. THE CAVE challenges the boundaries of contemporary opera, drawing from a variety of music genres. In the intersection of reality and fantasy, material & immaterial, with an emphasis on the exploration of self-truth. The staged transcription of the philosophical text is interwoven with intertextual adds – Buddhist sutras, hyperrealistic conversations etc.- and pinholes onto today’s world. Socrates is a robot’s voice and this sarcasm runs through out the piece. while mythological creatures pass as shadows of another world all too close to ours; In Plato’s allegory people are chained in a cave and they are facing the inside of the cave whereupon they see the shadows of the outside world. In so doing, they interpret “reality” through this optic of the shadows. The cave brings out how the two-dimensional vision of the three-dimensional life translates in today’s realities in misconceptions that we may have regarding what’s going on as for example in the domains of politics, of society and of course ethics.

Award-winning REVOLT ATHENΣ relates criticism and poetry avoiding radical “in-your-face” political discourse and it is highly interactive. Rejecting the flat, washed out image often painted of Greece’s capital, this is an Athens that’s bursting with life. In REVOLT ATHENΣ, the three-piece, politically-minded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece. In ODC Ensemble’s unique city guide, activist communities are framed in terms of Greece’s wider history; intertwined with figures of Greek mythology, there are tear gas-choked riots against government austerity cutbacks. Combining actors, video footage and music, it’s a multi-faceted window into the living and breathing reality of a place.

REVOLT ATHENΣ was proudly presented for the European Parliament for Culture in the frame of the Operadagen Festival 2017 and awarded a First Prize Award for the REP, Birmingham at the BE Festival in July 2017.

THE CAVE is a cyber punk opera on a popular theme Matrix. An oratorical opera in the intersection between opera, cinema and new technologies, this radical performance calls for critical reflection on fake news and post truth. It’s a contemporary reinterpretation of Plato’s famous “cave” allegory. Shadow puppetry, new media, visuals and music are all performed in real time by a cast of four. Nothing is ever still. THE CAVE challenges the boundaries of contemporary opera, drawing from a variety of music genres. In the intersection of reality and fantasy, material & immaterial, with an emphasis on the exploration of self-truth. The staged transcription of the philosophical text is interwoven with intertextual adds – Buddhist sutras, hyperrealistic conversations etc.- and pinholes onto today’s world. Socrates is a robot’s voice and this sarcasm runs through out the piece. while mythological creatures pass as shadows of another world all too close to ours; In Plato’s allegory people are chained in a cave and they are facing the inside of the cave whereupon they see the shadows of the outside world. In so doing, they interpret “reality” through this optic of the shadows. The cave brings out how the two-dimensional vision of the three-dimensional life translates in today’s realities in misconceptions that we may have regarding what’s going on as for example in the domains of politics, of society and of course ethics.

THE CAVE is a cyber punk opera on a popular theme Matrix. An oratorical opera in the intersection between opera, cinema and new technologies, this radical performance calls for critical reflection on fake news and post truth. It’s a contemporary reinterpretation of Plato’s famous “cave” allegory. Shadow puppetry, new media, visuals and music are all performed in real time by a cast of four. Nothing is ever still. THE CAVE challenges the boundaries of contemporary opera, drawing from a variety of music genres. In the intersection of reality and fantasy, material & immaterial, with an emphasis on the exploration of self-truth. The staged transcription of the philosophical text is interwoven with intertextual adds – Buddhist sutras, hyperrealistic conversations etc.- and pinholes onto today’s world. Socrates is a robot’s voice and this sarcasm runs through out the piece. while mythological creatures pass as shadows of another world all too close to ours; In Plato’s allegory people are chained in a cave and they are facing the inside of the cave whereupon they see the shadows of the outside world. In so doing, they interpret “reality” through this optic of the shadows. The cave brings out how the two-dimensional vision of the three-dimensional life translates in today’s realities in misconceptions that we may have regarding what’s going on as for example in the domains of politics, of society and of course ethics.

Award-winning REVOLT ATHENΣ relates criticism and poetry avoiding radical “in-your-face” political discourse and it is highly interactive. Rejecting the flat, washed out image often painted of Greece’s capital, this is an Athens that’s bursting with life. In REVOLT ATHENΣ, the three-piece, politically-minded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece. In ODC Ensemble’s unique city guide, activist communities are framed in terms of Greece’s wider history; intertwined with figures of Greek mythology, there are tear gas-choked riots against government austerity cutbacks. Combining actors, video footage and music, it’s a multi-faceted window into the living and breathing reality of a place.

REVOLT ATHENΣ was proudly presented for the European Parliament for Culture in the frame of the Operadagen Festival 2017 and awarded a First Prize Award for the REP, Birmingham at the BE Festival in July 2017.

Award-winning REVOLT ATHENΣ relates criticism and poetry avoiding radical “in-your-face” political discourse and it is highly interactive. Rejecting the flat, washed out image often painted of Greece’s capital, this is an Athens that’s bursting with life. In REVOLT ATHENΣ, the three-piece, politically-minded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece. In ODC Ensemble’s unique city guide, activist communities are framed in terms of Greece’s wider history; intertwined with figures of Greek mythology, there are tear gas-choked riots against government austerity cutbacks. Combining actors, video footage and music, it’s a multi-faceted window into the living and breathing reality of a place.

REVOLT ATHENΣ was proudly presented for the European Parliament for Culture in the frame of the Operadagen Festival 2017 and awarded a First Prize Award for the REP, Birmingham at the BE Festival in July 2017.

Award-winning REVOLT ATHENΣ relates criticism and poetry avoiding radical “in-your-face” political discourse and it is highly interactive. Rejecting the flat, washed out image often painted of Greece’s capital, this is an Athens that’s bursting with life. In REVOLT ATHENΣ, the three-piece, politically-minded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece. In ODC Ensemble’s unique city guide, activist communities are framed in terms of Greece’s wider history; intertwined with figures of Greek mythology, there are tear gas-choked riots against government austerity cutbacks. Combining actors, video footage and music, it’s a multi-faceted window into the living and breathing reality of a place.

REVOLT ATHENΣ was proudly presented for the European Parliament for Culture in the frame of the Operadagen Festival 2017 and awarded a First Prize Award for the REP, Birmingham at the BE Festival in July 2017.

Award-winning REVOLT ATHENΣ relates criticism and poetry avoiding radical “in-your-face” political discourse and it is highly interactive. Rejecting the flat, washed out image often painted of Greece’s capital, this is an Athens that’s bursting with life. In REVOLT ATHENΣ, the three-piece, politically-minded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece. In ODC Ensemble’s unique city guide, activist communities are framed in terms of Greece’s wider history; intertwined with figures of Greek mythology, there are tear gas-choked riots against government austerity cutbacks. Combining actors, video footage and music, it’s a multi-faceted window into the living and breathing reality of a place.

REVOLT ATHENΣ was proudly presented for the European Parliament for Culture in the frame of the Operadagen Festival 2017 and awarded a First Prize Award for the REP, Birmingham at the BE Festival in July 2017.

Award-winning REVOLT ATHENΣ relates criticism and poetry avoiding radical “in-your-face” political discourse and it is highly interactive. Rejecting the flat, washed out image often painted of Greece’s capital, this is an Athens that’s bursting with life. In REVOLT ATHENΣ, the three-piece, politically-minded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece. In ODC Ensemble’s unique city guide, activist communities are framed in terms of Greece’s wider history; intertwined with figures of Greek mythology, there are tear gas-choked riots against government austerity cutbacks. Combining actors, video footage and music, it’s a multi-faceted window into the living and breathing reality of a place.

REVOLT ATHENΣ was proudly presented for the European Parliament for Culture in the frame of the Operadagen Festival 2017 and awarded a First Prize Award for the REP, Birmingham at the BE Festival in July 2017.

Award-winning REVOLT ATHENΣ relates criticism and poetry avoiding radical “in-your-face” political discourse and it is highly interactive. Rejecting the flat, washed out image often painted of Greece’s capital, this is an Athens that’s bursting with life. In REVOLT ATHENΣ, the three-piece, politically-minded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece. In ODC Ensemble’s unique city guide, activist communities are framed in terms of Greece’s wider history; intertwined with figures of Greek mythology, there are tear gas-choked riots against government austerity cutbacks. Combining actors, video footage and music, it’s a multi-faceted window into the living and breathing reality of a place.

REVOLT ATHENΣ was proudly presented for the European Parliament for Culture in the frame of the Operadagen Festival 2017 and awarded a First Prize Award for the REP, Birmingham at the BE Festival in July 2017.