Brigadirskaya street, 12
Prometeus in memoriam
performance
Author of the idea, composer Panayiotis Velianitis (Greece)
Author of the idea, actress/performer Sophia Hill (Greece)
Duration is about 45 minutes
16+
The permanent co-authors of the Greek director Theodoros Terzopoulos — composer Panayiotis Velianitis and the leading actress of the Attis Theatre in Delphi Sophia Hill — present their performance Prometheus in memoriam, a project that interprets the ancient myth in a new way.
Prometheus — according to one version, the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Klymene — created humans. To help the humanity, he stole fire from the furnace of Hephaestus or, according to others, from the chariot wheel of the Sun, and brought it to people to improve their lives. He also taught them the arts and sciences so that they would become civilised.
According to the authors of the performance Prometheus in memoriam, people invented the myth of Prometheus in order to find a reflection of their actions and history in it. It was as if they were trying to exorcise the curse of mutual annihilation and suffering that they themselves cause and that overshadows the achievements of their civilisation.
Panayiotis Velianitis’ sound work is based on a complex relationship between electronics, processed and “pure” field recordings, as well as recorded and edited speech. Following the structure of Aeschylus’ tragedy Prometheus Bound, the author transforms into music turning points in the history of mankind, such as, for example, the industrial and technological revolution or the economic decline of the interwar period.
The actress-performer Sophia Hill, finds herself, like the mythical Nereus, in a constant transformation. She exorcises the curse of eternal punishment of the defeated Titans and humanity itself. Her path runs on coals, it is the source that she draws her energy from, but it is also her punishment at the same time.
Panayiotis Velianitis is a composer, one of the first Greek creators of computer music. He is a member of the Contemporary Music Research Center (CMRC) founded by the composer Iannis Xenakis, and a member of the Hellenic Electroacoustic Music Composers Association (HELMCA). Since 1991, he has been the composer of Theodoros Terzopoulos’ productions both at the Attis Theatre and in those of other theatres in Greece and abroad. Has collaborated with leading soloists such as the Greek mandolinist Dimitris Marinos, the British trombonist John Kenny, the Russian soprano Natalia Pshenichnikova, as well as with important visual artists such as Yannis Kounellis, Kalliopi Lemos, Michalis Arfaras, Grigoris Semitekolo, Ersi Hatziargyrou, Elias Tabakeas, etc.
Sophia Hill is an actress and performer. After her graduation from Veaki Drama School, she immediately began a long-term collaboration with the Attis Theatre and Theodoros Terzopoulos, taking part in the performances based on Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, Heracles by Heiner Müller, Money on the texts by Bertolt Brecht, Heracles Enraged by Euripides, Kathodos (“Way Down”) based on fragments of Euripides’ The Madness of Heracles (Heracles Enraged) and Sophocles’ Trachiniae, Hamlet, an Apprenticeship following Boris Pasternak and many others, as well as in the production of Dmitri Kourliandski’s opera Nosferatu (Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre). Sophia Hill also performed her own mono performance Rhapsody M based on Homer’s Odyssey at the Ancient Theatre of Aptera and participated in the play Clytemnestra, Chamber Music for One Instrument at the Athens Epidaurus Festival.