Alexis. Una tragedia greca
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(ALEXIS. A GREEK TRAGEDY)
Days of Rage
The mythical city of Athens in the explosive present. Antigone, Creon and Polynices are right there, in the very heart of the turmoil. While Polynices is wearing a Sex Pistols T-shirt, the 21st century Antigone is frantically dancing her rebellion to loud music, demanding justice for all the Polynices of this world, especially for Alexandros Grigoropoulos (Alexis), a 15-year-old teenager whose death under police fire during a demonstration set off the riots and unrest that have embroiled Greece since 2008. The tragic poetry of Sophocles has been channelled through Brecht, distilled into a few hard hitting phrases and grafted onto an effervescent portrait of the contemporary European political context. Because the Italian company Motus refuses to condone the sacrifice of additional Polynices, it urges insurrection. Frenetic choreography, graffiti, testimonials and scarlet lighting energize this theatrical happening of pressing urgency. Following Too Late! (antigone) contest #2, Alexis. Una tragedia greca manifestly possesses the combustive power to ignite rebellion. Its arsenal to spark the blaze consists of indignation, fury and hope.
June 4, 7:00 pm
June 5, 7:00 pm
Tickets: $40
Under 30 / Over 65: $35
Discount packages on sale now
15% to 40% off
Metro Place-des-Arts
Artists Without Borders
For the Italian company Motus there are no borders, no frontiers between countries or eras or disciplines, no separation of art from involvement in society. Free thinkers who have performed all over the world, the playwright Daniela Nicolò and the director Enrico Casagrande, who founded Motus in 1991, combine video, installations, poetry and dance in their theatre. They also integrate well-known works such as Jean Genet’s Splendid’s, Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Teorema and Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Preparadise Sorry Now into thoroughly contemporary productions where artistic innovation and taking a political stance are one and the same. The originality and quality of the Motus oeuvre have earned the company a number of honours, including the prestigious Ubu Award. The company was in Montreal in 2002 with CRAC, and with Twin Rooms in 2005. This year the FTA will be featuring their new piece Too Late! (antigone) contest #2, as well as Alexis. Una tragedia greca, both of which are part of the Syrma Antigónes quartet, the other two being Let the Sunshine In (antigone) contest #1and Iovadovia (antigone) contest #3. Created between 2008 and 2010, the series is a contemporary reflection of the spirit of Antigone, a symbol of integrity and of the revolt in contemporary societies against uncaring or corrupt authorities.
Press Quote(s)
« C’est audacieux et provocateur, iconoclaste et poétique. On ne tombe pas dans les travers de ce genre de spectacle, qui tourne parfois à la « performance ». Ici, l’inventivité n’interdit pas le sérieux, et le pouvoir de l’imagination se conjugue à merveille avec le brio de la technique maitrisée. Du grand art, assurément, significatif de ce qui se fait de mieux dans le monde du jeune théâtre… […] Alexis, c’est du raide, du violent, de la poésie explosive, du coup de poing idéologique asséné sur un ring en forme de scène. »
Marianne 2, 5 mars 2011
« La remarquable compagnie italienne Motus donne avec Alexis. Une tragédie grecque une partition aussi poétique que politique. […] Spectacle dont l’originalité et la réussite tiennent dans le cocktail explosif entre théâtre documentaire et dimension mythique. »
Fabienne Darge, Le Monde, 27 février 2011
« Le résultat, aussi spectaculaire qu’original, choisit des espaces insolites et fait le pari d’une incandescence artistique à la hauteur du scandale politique. […] Devenus des créateurs incontournables de la scène européenne, les membres de la compagnie Motus, poètes de l’urgence, sont à découvrir sans tarder ! »
Catherine Robert, La Terrasse, février 2011
““Alexis” is shaped by artistic self-consciousness, an often annoying trait associated with young and defiant intellectuals. Here, though, such self-consciousness is energizing instead of paralyzing. […]By the show’s end four lone actors have become a revolutionary legion.”
Ben Branteley, The New York Times, January 5th, 2012
Links
Credits
PRODUCED BY Motus
DIRECTED BY Enrico Casagrande + Daniela Nicolò
DRAMATURGY Daniela Nicolò
VIDEOEDITING Enrico Casagrande
WITH Vladimir Aleksic + Silvia Calderoni + Alexandra Sarantopoulu + Benno Steinegger
IN ASSOCIATION WITH Giorgina Pilozzi + Michalis Traitsis
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Nicolas Lehnebach
SOUND DESIGN Andrea Comandini
LIGHTING AND SET DESIGN Enrico Casagrande + Daniela Nicolò
COPRODUCTION Emilia-Romagna Teatro Fondazione + Espace Malraux - Scène Nationale de Chambéry et de la Savoie - CARTA BIANCA Programme Alcotra de coopération France - Italie + Théâtre National de Bretagne (Rennes) + Festival delle Colline Torinesi
WITH THE SUPPORT OF Province de Rimini + Regione Emilia-Romagna + MiBAC
PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH Place des Arts WITH THE SUPPORT OF Institut Culturel Italien de Montréal
WRITTEN BY Sophie Pouliot
TRANSLATED BY Neil Kroetsch
Premiered at Festival Vie Scena Contemporanea, Modena, October 15, 2010
514 844 3822 / 1 866 984 3822
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED / FESTIVAL TRANSAMÉRIQUES