Luigi Pirandello's TONIGHT WE IMPROVISE, Greek National Theatre, 2018-2019.
"The eerie loneliness of a sculpture as it stands still, beyond time. But the playwright is fooling himself if he believes that he can achieve such a conclusive form for his creation. The theatrical play can only come to life through us, the actors and the crew. We liberate the text from it's stillness therefore we melt it's content into a mold that has the shape of our souls." Luigi Pirandello, 'Tonight we improvise', 1929.
As the performers are challenged to improvise upon their role, using the material they carry within their soul, so we decided to improvise, for the set design, with found material that existed within the actual 'body' of the National Theatre. From a first visit to the depository warehouses, we discovered a sculpture by Tina Parali, which was created for a Romeo and Juliet production, directed by Dimitris Mavrikios thirty years ago, on this same stage, with actress Lydia Fotopoulou in the leading role. This 'archaeological' discovery led us, in turn, to a decision that shaped the artistic face of the show. Assisted by the National Theatre's staff, with great affection towards the institution's history, we dag up a series of "archeological" finds: numerous other sculptures that have starred in previous productions, the old velvet curtain of the maint stage (unused since 1999), deposed 1960's headlights, numerous clothes from the cloakroom and mannequins that had been made for a costumes' exhibition at the National Gallery of Greece in 2003.
The cast: Konstantinos Arnokouros, Giannis Artemisiadis, Michalis Artemisiadis,Giorgos, Benos, Lili Dalanika, Rania Ekonomidou, Nektarios Farmakis, Lydia Fotopoulou, Dimitris Kakavoulas, Dimitris Mavrikios, Eva Oikonomou-Vamvaka, Stefanos Papatrechas, Gioulika Skafida, Maria Vardaka, Alexandros Varthis, Giannis Voyiatzis. Appearing in filmed scenes: Nikos Karathanos.
The creative team: Translation, adaptation, direction: Dimitris Mavrikios / Original music score: Manos Hadjidakis / Set design, Assistance in adaptation: Dimitris Polychroniadis / Costume design: Niki Psychogiou / Musical arrangement, adaptation & orchestration: Nikos Kypourgos / Sound design & orchestration: Stathis Skouropoulos / Lighting design: Lefteris Pavlopoulos / Movement, choreography: Valia Papachristou / Associate director: Manolis Dounias / Assistant director, Assistance in adaptation: Maria Vardaka / Hair design, Wigs: Chronis Tzimos / Make-up design and application: Roula Lianou / Music coach: Melina Peonidou / Second assistant director: Eva Oikonomou-Vamvaka / Assistant set designer: Marina Koniou / Assistant costume designer: Marios Panagiotou / Director of filmed scenes: Dimitris Mavrikios / Co-director, director of photography, special effects of filmed scenes: Angelos Papadopoulos / Editor of filmed scenes: Ioanna Spiliopoulou.
Photographs by Patroklos Skafidas, Marina Koniou and Dimitris Apostolidis.