Role in the Project
For this project, I created a full-size seismograph and a stage vibration system capable of detecting the actors’ movements. The seismograph was plotting the vibrations of the movement of the actors and the data of the sensor was used to alter or create the soundscape of the play.
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 Installation: 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: Yiannis Kranidiotis
Assistant to the Director A: Spiros Sourvinos
Research Consultant: Louisa Arkoumanea
Collaboration on Dramaturgy: Ariah Lester, Haris Kalaitzidis
Photography: Alex Kat
Trailer: Sideris Nanoudis
Tour & Development Management: 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
Elli Papakonstantinou makes the myth of Dionysos her own, giving us a queer version of the play where the question of gender is synonymous with freedom. Euripides’ tragedy The Bacchae is more relevant than ever in this hybrid piece combining theatre, dance, new media, original music, and live visual effects. An exciting new immersive experience by one of the leading artists on the international scene.
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…
For the creators of The Bacchae, the idea of queer is more than a set of personal preferences. It is an opportunity to look at the world in a new way. 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 as a result of her working with (opera) singers, including composer and performer Ariah Lester, while an interactive sound design brings on stage a seismograph that registers the earth’s and dancers’ vibrations and transforms the stage into a musical instrument: it is the pulse of the cosmos.
Performances
PREMIERE 2023 at La Filature, Scene Nationale Mulhouse, Festival Vagamondes (FR) 17 + 18.03. 2023
Holland Festival (NL) 10-11.06.23
Festival de Marseille (FR) 21-22.06.23
Athens Epidaurus Festival (GR) 4-6.07.23
Romaeuropa Festival (IT) 30.09 + 01.10. 2023
Espace des Arts, Scene Nationale Chalon-Sur-Saone (FR) 12-13.10.2023
Teatro Nazionale di Genova (IT) 10-11.11.2023