Telemachus - Should I Stay or Should I Go?

The performance is co-produced by the leading cross-cultural theater in Berlin – Ballhaus Naunynstrasse – the artistic program of which is overseen by the internationally renowned Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin. This collaboration forms part of Onassis Stegi’s push to open itself up to the international scene.

Both Anestis Azas and Prodromos Tsinikoris have close ties with Germany. The former studied direction at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts, while the latter was born in Wuppertal to parents who had emigrated to Germany.

“A Journey by Train” at the 2011 Athens & Epidaurus Festival was the first documentary performance Anestis Azas and Prodromos Tsinikoris created together. The unusual thing about this work was that it was performed on the roof of the Hellenic Railways Association (OSE) Headquarters in Metaxourgio. The lead roles were played by train drivers and other OSE employees; by telling their stories, as both eyewitnesses and “victims”, they traced the decline of the Greek railways.

“Epidaurus”, another documentary performance created by Azas and Tsinikoris for the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, this time in 2012, was presented at the Little Theater of Ancient Epidaurus. Its protagonists were local residents, from the small towns of Lygourio and Palea Epidavros, who gave eyewitness accounts and recounted memories live on stage concerning their experiences of more that half a century of performances at the Ancient Theater.

These two Greek artists have been influenced by the guiding principles and working methods of the pioneering theater company Rimini Protokoll towards what they call “reality theater”. Indeed, both have worked with the German company as assistant directors and researchers on the performance “Prometheus in Athens”, which was presented at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus as part of the Athens & Epidaurus Festival in 2010.

The work’s dramaturg, the 44-year-old Jens Hillje, is considered one of Germany’s most up-and-coming artists. From 1996 until 1999, he was – alongside Thomas Ostermeier – one of the founders and co-directors of the Barracks venue at the Deutsches Theater; their successful collaboration continued at Berlin’s Schaubühne for another ten years. In 2010, Hillje – in collaboration with Nurkan Erpulat – developed the piece “Mad Blood”, which was declared “Play of the Year” by the renowned trade journal “Theater Heute” (“Theater Today”) in 2011.

The work’s sub-title (“Should I Stay or Should I Go”) makes reference to a song of the same name, released by punk rock band The Clash on their 1982 album “Combat Rock”.