Dimitris Kamarotos | Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus

Dimitris Kamarotos
"Prometheus Bound" by Aeschylus

the entire tragedy in music for words

A unique film screening

On November 15, 2021, a unique film screening will take place at the Stavros Niarchos Hall. The work of Dimitris Kamarotos, Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, a co-production of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and the National Library of Greece (NLG), is presented following its technical completion, in a unique film screening capturing the live staging. The theatrical-musical composition created by composer and sound dramatist Dimitris Kamarotos was created amidst the pandemic and performed 5 times and broadcasted live (online) from the historic headquarters of the NLG, the Vallianeio Megaro on Panepistimiou Street in Athens, reaching the screens of at least 18,000 viewers.

Press coverage of Prometheus Bound by Dimitris Kamarotos, in a new translation by Nikos A. Panayotopoulos, featuring actors Amalia Moutoussi and Konstantinos Avarikiotis and musicians Anna Pangalou, Katerina Konstantourou and Christos Liatsos, included the following accolades:

"I dare say that this is a performance, a text, that must be shown everywhere, all around the world." Caterina Anesti

"A performance that did not only feature the sound of words; it also featured the sound of music. And these two sounds paired up seamlessly. And were fascinating." Olga Sella

The material to be screened is a film capturing one of the shows performed and broadcasted live in March 2021. Image and sound have undergone all the planned post-production stages and present the editing, picture and color quality, sound editing, that allow the project to be fulfilled as a feature film. After this special premiere at the Stavros Niarchos Hall, the film will be made available for online viewing at a high-quality copy of the film that will be screened.

Duration: 90'

This treatrical-musical show features the entire text of Aeschylus in the form of a personalized narrative at a dense pace. Set in the reading room of the old National Library-the historical Vallianeio Megaro-lead actors Amalia Moutoussi and Konstantinos Avarikiotis, mezzo-soprano Anna Pangalou and soloist musicians Katerina Konstantourou and Christos Liatsos go through the entire text of Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus.

Note by Dimitris Kamarotos:

"Amalia Moutoussi and Konstantinos Avarikiotis, thoroughly immersed in all aspects of the poetic material, assume the roles of all the characters of the play, and Anna Pangalou enacts the Chorus. They use a sheet of musical notations that spans the entire text and music with a particular technique: "sound masks" that differentiate between characters. They roughly recount, at a frantic pace, a tale that surrounds them. They seek to reassure us, as well as tell us about admirable and terrible things, the details of which only they know.

The actors, as two characters separate from the dramatic ones, a woman and a man who have already spent an indefinitely long period of time in a condition of confinement, are narrating while their time is running out. They are enveloped by the musicians who supervise and support them. They are relating to us a testimony from a unique experience they've had: some people who were there, in that same space, before them, left their traces. All around there are books, embedded video projections, objects, excerpts from hand-written texts, lyrics and shapes, as well as their own traces that mix and mingle with those left behind by the "others". One of the site's inhabitants, at some point in the past, might have been a... Prometheus. They speak his words about pain as a transferable quality, about the fire that pervades us, and the star-filled sky that looks upon us. Using images, sounds, music, they throw across a bridge between the old dwelling of the books and us.

We took a myth, that of Prometheus Bound, to the old National Library on Panepistimiou Street. We found ourselves in the place where Athens sounds different and time is compressed. We copied with our own mediums this myth that was turned into poetry by Aeschylus, which was turned into a new piece of literature through its translation by Nikos Panayotopoulos, and through all these successive representations we compose the music of meanings: we give the myth back the possibility to be told again, now, in this space.

Someone says:

Prometheus, everything happens far outside our home, in the space where the elements meet. But he/she is inside, somewhere near your traces, in the echo of the typographic elements of an old National Library. There, scattered around the steep rocks, your marks fleetingly appear.
In that short time, I have to tell you all that I can, so you can hear all that you can. I think it's raining outside."

Credits:

Translation: Nikos A. Panayotopoulos

Concept / Musical Drama / Music Composition: Dimitris Kamarotos

Set: Eva Manidaki

Costumes: Eva Nathena

Cinematography / Lighting Design: Yannis Drakoularakos

Artistic Associate: Eleni Kavouki

Sound Design: Costas Bokos / Studio19

Design of Video Projections in the Library: Vasilis Kunturis / Studio19

Post-Production: Dimitris Kamarotos, Studio19

Cast:

Amalia Moutoussi
Konstantinos Avarikiotis

Musicians:

Anna Pangalou, mezzo-soprano
Katerina Konstantourou, piano
Christos Liatsos, percussion

Note: The film screening will feature Greek and English subtitles.

Monday 15/11 | 21:00
Stavros Niarchos Hall

A limited number of viewers with tickets purchased in advance will be admitted, in accordance with all necessary safety measures stipulated by the Greek National Public Health Organization.

Advance Ticket Sales Points:
· online on Ticket Services website
· by phone: 210 7234567 (Ticket Services)

Pre-sale for the Members starts on Monday 18/10 at 12.00
Pre-sale for the audience starts on Tuesday 19/10 at 12.00

Ticket Prices:
General entrance €10
Concessions €5 

Concession tickets of 5€ are available to students, people aged 65+, children and young people aged up to 18 years old, the unemployed, Persons with Disabilities along with their companion, multi-child families and residents of the Municipality of Kallithea. Children can sit with their chaperones in any zone, with a concessions ticket.
On the day of the concert, concession ticket holders will be asked to show their ID, as well as supporting documentation (student card, unemployment card, family status certificate for multi-child parents, certification of disability, utility bill for residents of Kallithea)

Useful Information:

• Doors open at 20:00.
• Visitors are advised to be at the location 30 minutes prior to the commencement of the event.
• Entrance will be possible up to 10 minutes before the event's commencement.
• Advance ticket purchase is required. No tickets will be on sale at the site of the event.
• According to the latest measures to protect public health from the risk of spreading COVID-19, a valid vaccination certificate or disease certificate is required for the public to enter the event venue, as the venue operates as a pure venue. The above applies to adults. Μinors from 12 to 17 years old may present a certificate of vaccination or recovery from COVID-19 or a negative COVID-19 (PCR or rapid) test result, while minors from 4 to 11 years can alternatively submit a statement of self-test (self test) of the last twenty-four hours, according to the latest provisions of Joint Ministerial Decision. Participants must wear a mask and keep their distance both during attendance and during events and in accordance with the instructions of EODY.
• All areas of the SNFCC are accessible for disabled guests .
• For more information or clarifications, you may reach the SNFCC call center at 216 8091000.

Public health measures may lead to changes, either in relation to the staging of the event or in relation to the number of admissible guests.

The event is part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) grant. Along with the majority of its events, offered free of charge thanks to the SNF grants, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center also organizes certain events with affordable tickets, thus enriching its revenue sources and ensuring its financial sustainability.