Kolokotronis Contemplates the Future. Women Are Preparing for the Revolution. And I’ll Be Thinking of Something

This production, part of a tribute to the 2021 bicentennial of the Greek Revolution, is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org].

The Greek War of Independence has often been seen as the beginning of the modern Greek state’s tribulations. Critique of the national narrative bolstering the revolutionary struggle that began in 1821 was part and parcel of the process of its formation. The Greek War of Independence was not implemented by a uniform and cohesive front, as is evident from the fate of the revolutionary heroes, many of whom met with derision and condemnation during their lifetime, the disputes between factions and the rivalries among the Great Powers; rather, it was constituted by many different approaches, which led to a commensurate proliferation of narratives.

Critique (of opponents, of Others, of companions) is a constituent part of the modern Greek state. This commission by the GNO Alternative Stage to a high-profile artistic team that consists of a heterogeneous collection of performing artists under the leadership of the directors / performers Michail Marmarinos and Akillas Karazisis, as well as of the acclaimed composer Antonis Anissegos, accentuates the critical dimension of the Greek War of Independence and its reception throughout the history of modern Greece. Importantly, the production is supported by the presence of a dramaturgical team collating and corroborating the documentary evidence on which the original dramatic elements are based.

Via the means of contemporary music theatre, in which theatrical and sonic elements are intertwined in unpredictable and novel ways, the new music theatre production entitled Kolokotronis Contemplates the Future. Women Are Preparing for the Revolution. And I’ll Be Thinking of Something sets out to approach the Greek War of Independence as a field of constant critique and self-critique, thus putting forth a dramatic treatment at once playful and historically informed.