APOCALYPSE

Live YouTube premiere: Sunday, November 22 | 21:00 (Eastern European Time)

With Greek and English subtitles

Duration: 93'

“Whoever has ears, let them hear.” The Apocalypse of John is upon us. The end of the world – as prophecy, vision, or perhaps even revolutionary manifesto – in a performance more topical today than ever. On Sunday, November 22, visit the Onassis Foundation YouTube Channel at 21:00 (East European Time) to watch the live YouTube premiere of this work by Thanos Papakonstantinou, which opened the 2019–2020 season at Onassis Stegi. Distance keeps us close once more via the Onassis Foundation YouTube Channel, where we keep seeking out meaning, even in these apocalyptic times. The Second Coming, the four hoursemen, the seven seals, the Lamb of God, 666. One of the most influential and also most confounding texts in human history is transformed into a contemporary piece of ritualistic theater to remind us that every end is perhaps also a new beginning.

The Apocalypse has been exciting imaginations since the first century CE, summoning utopias, dystopias, and revolutionary movements. It is divine prophecy? Escatological preaching? A message of patience, belief, and hope in a better future? A call to insurrection? What’s certain is that this ominous phantasmagoria is a world-changing text. A director of the new generation, with an idiosyncratic visual sensibility, Thanos Papakonstantinou pays close attention to the Apocalypse of John, takes inspiration for a contemporary ritual, and notes: “The myth of the Apocalypse is a kind of parable for the constant transformations of the human faith in a better world to come.” This world, which has seen times of hope and of catastrophe – from the early Christians through to German National Socialism, and from Islamic extremism through to the French Revolution – “speaks not only about destruction, but also about the destruction of destruction”, as noted by the doctor, theologian, and political activist Savas Mihail in the show’s printed program.

“Apocalypse” premiered in October 2019 on the Onassis Stegi Main Stage. It has been described as “an exchange with the mystic depths of existence”, “a ritual of a performance”, “a flawless, otherworldly experience of an ‘other’ world close by our own”, “haunting and imposing”, “a work of audiovisual grandeur and spectacle of thrilling proportions”, “a visual phantasmagoria”, and “a museum of ideas and emotions”. In this “Apocalypse”, you may spy fragments of the past and present, but mainly fragments of the future. From the darkness, can we reach the light?

“Apocalypse” will be available for viewing on the Onassis Foundation YouTube Channel until December 30, 2020.

Credits

Concept & Direction: Thanos Papakonstantinou

Translation: Michaela Pliaplia

Set & Costumes Design: Niki Psychogiou

Music Composition & Electronic Programming: Panos Iliopoulos

Music Direction & Coordination, Pipe Orgna: Markellos Chryssicos

Movement Design: Nadi Gogoulou

Lighting Design: Christina Thanasoula

Sculpture: Alekos Bourelias

Assistant to the Director: Constantina Aggellopoulou

Production Management & Line Production: Phorminx

Performers: Alexia Kaltsiki, Marianna Dimitriou, Kalliopi Simou, Eleni Moleski, Kleopatra Markou, Thanassis Dovris, Sotiris Tsakomidis, Marios Panagiotou, Miltiadis Fiorentzis, Yorgos Dikaios

Musicians:

Thodoris Vazakas (percussion), Kostas Gatsios (bass clarinet), Alexis Karaiskakis (cello), Spiros Moschonas (bass trombone), Eleftheria Togia (viola), Dimitris Tigkas (double bass), Constantinos Tsiolis (live electronics).

Participating also: Pantelis Kalogerakis, Constantina Kaltsiou, Loukas Kyriazis, Maria Manta, Yiannis Batsis, Grigoria Oikonomaki, Rafael Sidiropoulos, Constantina Scandali, Dimitris Charalampopoulos, Evi Chroni and children: Constantinos Tsakomidis, Markos Somaripas-Chronopoulos

Produced by: Onassis Stegi

Read more

According to the Christian tradition, the creator of the Apocalypse (95-96 CE) is John the Evangelist, exiled from Ephesus to Patmos.

The Apocalypse (“The Book of Revelation”) is the only apocryphal text included in the Canon of the Bible.Here are some appreciations of the text of the Apocalypse:

“A text not of one age or generation, but for all ages and all generations” (George Seferis)

“A book of comfort and hope” (Jean Delimo, historian)

“A terrifying meteorite of a text that broke free from the Old Testament’s graviational field and dropped into the orchard of the Gospels” (Ilias Petropoulos)

“It is not merely a biblical description but a very practical possibility” (Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, former General Secretary of the United Nations)

“A source for various expectations and revolts. A permanent prototype of the anticipation of a disaster and a hope for transformation. A tool for challenging any kind of established meaning.” (Umberto Eco)

Director’s note

“Behind every insurrection is the desire for a radical reformation of humankind and of the world.

Behind every move toward reforming humankind and the world is the violence of the harvest.

Behind the violence of the harvest is the hope for rebirth.

Behind the hope for rebirth is the joy of destruction.

Behind the joy of destruction is the fear of death.

Behind the fear of death is the belief in beauty.

Behind the belief in beauty, there is light.

The myth of the Apocalypse is a kind of parable for the constant transformations of the human faith in a better world to come.”

Read more

https://www.onassis.org/whats-on/apocalypse-thanos-papakonstantinou

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