Prometheus
based on Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound Directed by Nikos Karathanos October 10-30, 2021 | Main Stage | Wednesday – Sunday | 20:30
“A roof overhead and a little fire is all humankind ever wanted – and it is captive to both.” Nikos Karathanos’ Prometheus is coming to bring us nothing but a blast of freedom.
Photo: Andreas Simopoulos
“Come in, come in.” Prometheus on the Onassis Stegi Main Stage. There is no Caucasus here. No rock, no chain; nothing to keep Prometheus bound. Everything takes place inside a house. A house-cum-meteorite hanging in space-time, engulfed by the four natural elements. Prometheus (Nikos Karathanos), Power and Hermes (Christos Loulis), Bia and Io (Galini Hatzipaschali), Hephaestus and Oceanus (Giannis Kotsifas) – all live here, like a family, making worlds.
“To live is to devour light and darkness, every minute.” Nikos Karathanos gives us his take on this tragedy by Aeschylus, attempting – in his own words – to “mythologize daily life”: “I’ve always tried to understand how pain inside a room can escape those four walls, travel through the air, birth gods and monsters, and bring us myth.”
This acclaimed artist – a perceptive observer of transcendence through readings of the familiar – directs, and performs as Prometheus. He recognizes each and every one of us in this character. “Prometheus represents you and me and everyone, in that moment where we look upon the reality of life and it looks back at us. There is something so very ancient inside every human being that makes time bend away in shame,” he notes.
Nikos Karathanos is turning his hand to ancient Greek drama for a second time, after tackling Aristophanes’ Birds; it is a source material that moves him because “it seems to be telling me constantly that ‘the opinions I have are my tomb, and justness is my resurrection’”.
Credits
Translation/text: Yiannis Asteris
Adaptation: Nikos Karathanos, Yiannis Asteris
Direction: Nikos Karathanos
Set Design: Eva Manidaki
Costumes Design: Aggelos Mentis
Lights Design: Felice Ross
Music: Angelos Triantafyllou
Movement: Amalia Bennett
Sound Design: Yiorgos Poulios
Scenic painter Nikos Karras
Sound Engineer: Kostis Pavlopoulos
Collaborator Director: Marisha Triantafyllidou
Assistant to Director: Ioanna Bitouni
Assistant to Set Designer: Anna Zoulia
Assistant to Costumes Designer: Olga Evaggelidou
Production Assistant: Nikos Charalambidis
Rehearsals Assistants & Filming: Dimitris Stavropoulos, Orestis Stavropoulos
Music Rehearsals Assistants: Alexandros Balaouras, Giorgos Braoudakis, Nikolas Sarlis
Sculptor & Special Constructions: Sokratis Papadopoulos
Sculptor & Special Constructions Assistants: Stefanos Grammenos, Nikoleta Sotiriou
Actors: Nikos Karathanos, Yiannis Kotsifas, Christos Loulis, Galini Chatzipaschali
Live Musicians on stage: Angelos Triantafyllou, Yiorgos Poulios, and Dimitris Gkogas (trumpet), Yiannis Gounaris (horn), Yiannis Kaikis (trombone), Ntinos Triantafyllou (tuba)
Line Production: POLYPLANITY Productions/ Yolanda Markopoulou & Vicky Strataki
Surtitles Translation Orfeas Apergis
Simultaneous Surtitling Yannis Papadakis
Produced by Onassis StegiPrometheus Tour is supported by Onassis Stegi’s “Outward Turn” Program
With English surtitles:
October 15 (Friday), 16 (Saturday), 17 (Sunday), 22 (Friday), 23, Sunday 24 (Saturday), 28 (Thursday), 29 (Friday) & 30 (Saturday)
This work is dedicated to the memory of our Elli – Elli Papageorgakopoulou.
Read more
Prometheus Bound is considered one Aeschylus’ late works. It is speculated to have been written between 475 and 470 BCE. Certain scholars still consider the date of its creation to be an open question. It is the only surviving work of Greek tragedy in which all the dramatis personae – with the exception of Io – are divine in status. In other words, Prometheus Bound is an affair that unfolds among immortals.
Prometheus Bound is Nikos Karathanos’ second directorial engagement with ancient Greek drama, following his 2016 take on Aristophanes’ The Birds which premiered at the Athens Epidaurus Festival and was produced by Onassis Stegi. The work went on to be presented at the legendary St. Ann’s Warehouse theater in Brooklyn, New York, in May 2018, and was included in New York Magazine’s online “Vulture” list of that year’s Ten Best Theater Productions. In January 2020, The Birds put in an appearance at the Santiago a Mil International Theater Festival in Chile, in the midst of major social and political upheaval. This is the third production Karathanos is directing at Onassis Stegi. Their partnership began in 2015, with Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard.As part of 2018’s pilot Onassis AiR scholarship initiative, Nikos Karathanos undertook a multi-phase program of research trips in central Europe before going on a phenomenological research and practice trip across regions of Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.Production Info
Onassis Stegi
107-109 Syngrou Avenue
October 10-30, 2021
Main Stage
Performances: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays | 20:30
Duration: 95 minutes
https://www.onassis.org/whats-on/prometheus-nikos-karathanos
An ID card or passport must also be presented, for verification purposes. Specially appointed staff will check these certificates by scanning the relevant QR code using the official “CovidFreeGr” app. Read more here.
Here at Onassis Stegi, everyone’s safety is our prime concern.
MAIN STAGE – AUDIENCE ARRIVAL GUIDELINES
To ensure public safety, audience arrivals have been staggered into four 15-minute time slots, starting from 19:30.
Specifically:
Arrival Time Slot A: 19:30-19:45 – Balcony (Level 2)
Arrival Time Slot B: 19:45-20:00 – Mezzanine (Level 1)
Arrival Time Slot C: 20:00-20:15 – Stalls, Rows Μ-Τ
Arrival Time Slot D: 20:15-20:30 – Stalls, Rows Δ-Λ
Full price: 7€ – 15€ – 18€ – 28€
Concessions, Stegi Friends & Groups (5-9 persons): 12€ – 15€ – 22€
Large Groups (10+ persons): 10€
Limited Visibility & Local Residents: 7€
People with Disabilities & the Unemployed: 5€
Companions: 10€
For group bookings, please contact: groupsales@onassis.org
The digital ticket/print@home service is available for all tickets purchased online. Access the PDF file using your smart device, save your ticket to your Android or iOS wallet, or print it out and proceed directly to the auditorium.
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ONASSIS STEGI TICKET OFFICE (107-109 Syngrou Avenue)
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VISITOR SAFETY GUIDELINES
Face masks must be worn everywhere inside Onassis Stegi.Hand sanitizer stations are provided throughout the building.
Visitors must make their way directly to the auditoria and are not allowed to linger in the venue’s public areas (such as the foyer).
To avoid congestion, visitors will be assigned specific arrival time slots. Tickets must be brought printed out, or presented in digital form.Tickets are strictly for personal use and are non-transferable.
Performances have no intermission.
The ground floor cloakroom and bar (Liquid Bar) will remain closed.
Audience members must sit in the seats indicated on their tickets – no seating changes are allowed.
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Onassis Stegi reserves the right to eject any ticket holder refusing to follow the rules and regulations set out here.
For Main Stage, Upper Stage, and Exhibition Hall (-1) events, use of the elevators is restricted to two persons at a time. Face masks must be worn.
Access to the underground car park is limited to drivers of vehicles. Face masks must be worn.
The Onassis Stegi ticket office will remain closed. Tickets cannot be printed out on site.
Tickets can be purchased on our website (onassis.org) and via our call center.
Visitors must print out their own tickets before arrival, or present them in digital form.