DON JOSÉ
Dimitris Sigalos

ESCAMILLO/MORALLÈS
Arkadios Rakopoulos

ZUNIGA/LE DANCAÏRE
Dionyssis Tsantinis

CARMEN
Marissia Papalexiou

MICAËLA/FRASQUITA
Sofia Mitropoulou

MERCÉDÈS
Eleni Davou

Act I / At a café in a square of Seville, soldiers comment leisurely on the passers-by while waiting for Carmen who works nearby to show up. Eventually, Carmen comes and almost threatens her admirers by singing a song about the fickle nature of love. Reacting to Zuniga's persistent flirt, she takes refuge to Don José by kissing him in a provocative manner and throwing him a flower. Although Don José seems to be annoyed, he keeps the flower. Carmen and Mercédès return to work. Micaëla enters the stage and gives José a kiss and a letter from his mother. In the letter his mother designates Micaëla as a suitable wife for him. Voices are heard, Carmen and Zuniga enter the stage again, but this time in dispute. Carmen keeps a suspicious object in her bag, but she won't give any explanations. Zuniga asks Don José to lead her to prison. Once they are left alone, Carmen charms the officer and in exchange of liberating her she pledges her love to him. Don José helps her escape.

Act II / In a bar. Carmen and Mercédès work night shift. Escamillo, the famous toreador, arrives. Carmen seems to be disinterested, but she lets him hope. Don José arrives and Carmen joyously dances for his sake. When he explains to her that duty calls him and has to leave, Carmen is outraged; she remains unmoved both at the view of the flower of their first encounter and by his marriage proposal. As she explains, if he loves her, he must leave her and make a fresh start someplace else. The lieutenant of the guards (Zuniga) returns hoping to find Carmen alone. Don José, jealous of Zuniga, attacks him. Now he has no other choice but to follow Carmen.

Act III / In a deserted place where Carmen and Don José have taken refuge. Micaëla comes dispirited only to inform Don José that his mother is dying. When she perceives that someone is following her, she hides. The person following her is Escamillo who has come to claim Carmen. Don José is furious and challenges him in a duel. At this point Carmen interrupts them and Escamillo invites everyone to his next bullfighting. Micaëla turns up informing Don José that his mother is on her death bed. He threatens Carmen and follows the girl. Carmen is mesmerised by Escamillo and follows his voice.

Act IV / In Escamillo's dressing room. Carmen helps him in his preparations for the arena. Escamillo bids her a warm goodbye and enters the arena. Carmen is left alone and watches the bullfighting on a monitor. Don José rushes in and insists on her following him. She openly tells him that she does not love him and that she would rather die than losing her freedom. Through the arena she can hear the cheering crowd and she is about to dash and take a taste of Escamillo's triumph, but Don José stands in her way. She gives him back the ring he had given her as a token of his love and kills her the very moment the bull strikes a deadly blow at Escamillo.

Director's note / Although today Carmen is synonymous with Spain, nobody remembers that its composer had never visited the Iberian Peninsula before composing this work that was to reserve him a place amongst the most celebrated opera composers. In the abridged version of the work we prepared for the Suitcase Opera, our aim was to narrate the story from a different angle with regard to Spain and its particular character. We kept intact the opera's dramatic core in which the dynamic rapport that develops among the main characters is skilfully outlined through music and dramatic performance. However, the grand spectacle and the vivid, crowded scenes were left out. In essence, every abridged version is a new creation. Consequently, our intent was to place our own Carmen in the Spain of the 1990s, in Seville; a city whose history is always evident and where the past encounters the present, and both engage in a discourse with daily life.
Almodovar's films are our focal point of reference as far the aesthetics are concerned. Through his cinematography we saw Spain from a different viewpoint and we became familiarised with the country, perhaps more than Bizet was in his time. Our version presents two different worlds that meet and eventually come into conflict: on the one hand we see the conservative, Catholic and provincial Spain (especially Southern Spain); on the other hand there is the emancipated Spain and its big cities of the post-Franco era, the way it is depicted in Almodovar's films. The gypsy element was consciously omitted from our narration because in the past it bore different connotations from today and especially because in the original text it is used as an explanation for the deviant nature of Carmen and her comrades. Our decision to dispense with this outdated pseudo-exotic element did not emerge from the need to be politically correct, but rather from our choice to be more loyal to the spirit of the work and our decision to depict Carmen as a contemporary woman who is trying to survive by working day and night. She is a woman who knows the nitty-gritty of the world both under the bright light of day and in the darkness of night, making her a lot more experienced than Don José who grew up in a safe bourgeois environment. Carmen does not aspire to have a family and children; she knows that her desires would cost her dearly. However, she had never imagined the price would be so high…

CLARA-MARIA - PRINCE ALEXEI
Νatasha Siouta - Igor Siadzko (20/12 - 3/1)
Stavroula Kaburakis - Αleksandar Neskov (21/12)
Εleana Andreoudi - Daniko Zeka (23/12 - 9/1)
Μaria Kousouni - Vangelis Bikos (24/12 - 4, 11/1)

DROSSELMAYER
George Varvariotis (20/12 - 3/1)
Stratos Papanoussis (21/12)
Μichalis Pappas (23/12 - 9/1)
Anton Koruti (24/12 - 4, 11/1)

FAIRY OF THE NORTH
Emilia Gaspari (20, 23/12 - 3, 9/1)
Αlina Stergianou (21, 24/12 - 4, 11/1)

With the GNO Orchestra, Children's Chorus, Principal Dancers, Soloists, Coryphées and the GNO Corps de ballet

RODOLFO
Luciano Ganci (9, 11, 13, 28, 30/12)
Yannis Christopoulos (10, 12, 14, 31/12)

MIMÌ
Cellia Costea (9, 11, 13, 28, 30/12)
Anna Stylianaki (10, 12, 14, 31/12)

ΜARCELLO
Dionyssis Sourbis (9, 13, 14, 31/12)
Κyros Patsalides (10, 11, 12, 28, 30/12)

SCHAUNARD
Akis Laloussis (9, 11, 13, 28, 30/12)
Zafiris Koutelieris (10, 12, 14, 31/12)

COLLINE
Τassos Apostolou (9, 11, 13, 28, 30/12)
Petros Magoulas (10, 12, 14, 31/12)

ΜUSETTA
Μaria Mitsopoulou (9, 12, 14, 31/12)
Vassiliki Karayanni (10, 13, 28/12)
Katia Paschou (11, 30/12)

BENOIT
Pavlos Maropoulos (9, 11, 13, 28, 30/12)
Panagiotis Athanasopoulos (10, 12, 14, 31/12)

ΑLCINDORO
Christos Amvrazis (9, 11, 13, 28, 30/12)
Kostas Dotsikas (10, 12, 14, 31/12)

PARPIGNOL
Thanassis Evangelou (9, 11, 13, 28, 30/12)
Stavros Giannoulis (10, 12, 14, 31/12)

SERGEANT
Nikos Karagkiaouris (9, 11, 13, 28, 30/12)
Theodore Moraitis (10, 12, 14, 31/12)

CUSTOMS OFFICIAL
Pavlos Sampsakis (9, 11, 13, 28, 30/12)
Nikos Syropoulos (10, 12, 14, 31/12)

With the GNO Orchestra, Chorus and members of the GNO Children's Chorus, in the framework of its educational programme

VESPETTA
Myrsini Margariti

PIMPINONE
Vangelis Maniatis

CLARA-MARIA - PRINCE ALEXEI
Stavroula Kaburakis - Αleksandar Neskov
Μaria Kousouni - Vangelis Bikos

DROSSELMAYER
Stratos Papanoussis

FAIRY OF THE NORTH
Emilia Gaspari

With the Principal Dancers, Soloists, Coryphées and the GNO Corps de ballet

FRANGOYANNOÙ (THE MURDERESS)
Irini Tsirakidou (19, 23/11)
Julia Souglakou (21, 26/11)

MAROUSSÒ
Elena Kelessidi (19, 23/11)
Marina Fideli (21, 26/11)

IOASSAF
Tassos Apostolou

DELCHARÒ
Georgia Eliopoulos (19, 23/11)
Zoe Kappou (21, 26/11)

YANNIS PERIVOLÀS
Kostis Rasidakis (19, 23/11)
Costas Mavrogenis (21, 26/11)

YANNOÙ
Ines Zikou (19, 23/11)
Eleni Davou (21, 26/11)

XENOULA’S MOTHER
Evdokia Hadjioannou

FIRST POLICE OFFICER
Nikos Stefanou (19, 21, 26/11)
Dimitris Nalbantis (23/11)

MAGISTRATE
Vangelis Maniatis (19, 21, 23/11)
Nikos Karagkiaouris (26/11)

SECOND POLICE OFFICER/ASSESOR
Dimitris Nalbantis (19, 21, 26/11)
Charalambos Velissarios (23/11)

KRINIÒ
Niki Chaziraki (19, 23/11)
Zenia Argenti (21, 26/11)

TOULA
Vassia Zacharopoulou (19, 23/11)
Dimitra Kotidou (21, 26/11)

MYRSOUDA
Theodora Baka (19, 23/11)
Miranda Makrynioti (21, 26/11)

DOCTOR
Dionyssis Tsantinis

AMERSA
Ines Zikou (19, 23/11)
Eleni Davou (21, 26/11)

KONSTANTÌS
Vangelis Maniatis (19, 23/11)
Nikolaos Karagkiaouris (21, 26/11)

POLYPHONIC ENSEMBLE
Irini Derebei
Maria Melachrinou
Martha Mavroidi
Maria Kotti

With the GNO Orchestra, Chorus and the GNO Children's Chorus, in the framework of its educational programme

Act I / On the island of Skiathos, in the northwestern part of the Aegean Sea, Hadoula, an old widow has lived a difficult life. Since her childhood she learned to obey everyone without questioning. Although she was the one to support her family, she is known as «Frangoyannoù», i.e. the widow of Yannis Frangos, her good-for-nothing husband. Experience has taught her that a girl in a poor family such as her own, is not only destined to live a difficult life, but is also a burden for the rest of the family. What she finds unbearable is the obligation to provide each future bride with a dowry, a custom that she believes weighs upon every family, from the moment a girl is born.
One night, as she watches over her newborn but sick grand-daughter, who bears her name, she reflects on her life. For a moment dark thoughts cloud her mind and she thinks it for the best to strangle the sick infant. She proceeds with the horrible act, but the doctor assumes that the child has died from the illness. Initially, Hadoula is remorseful, but deep inside her she feels that she has done the right thing. After some time, she somehow arrives at the conviction, that it may be her mission to relieve the world from all the little girls.
Thus, without feelings of guilt she decides to carry on. While washing clothes for some well-to-do neighbours, she sees two little young girls playing beside a cistern. Realizing that she is alone with them, she drowns them in the water.

Act II / The police questions Hadoula, but lets her go. Only after yet another death, where once more she proves to be the only witness, do they decide to prosecute her: Another little girl has fallen into a well; Hadoula didn’t push her, but she wished she would fall in. As Hadoula sees policemen approaching her house, she realizes they are coming to arrest her, and decides to flee. At first, she takes refuge in the house of a woman she has helped years ago. Together they remember past times. Hadoula soon realizes that she is not safe there and decides to leave for the wilderness, to hide in places that are precipitous but were familiar to her since her childhood.
Policemen come after her, nightmares haunt her. Exhausted, Hadoula resolves to turn to the great-hearted hermint, who resides at the chapel of Saint Sostes, on a rock just off the shore. She will confess her sins, hoping for forgiveness and refuge. When Frangoyannoù reaches the narrow passing, the tide arrives. As the policemen are close behind her she throws herself decisively into the water. At the last moment she turns around and sees a piece of wasteland, which she recognizes as the dowry that was given to her at her marriage. The water rises. She drowns, meeting death halfway, somewhere «between divine and human justice».

FIORDILIGI
Myrtò Papatanasiu (24, 26/10 - 2/11)
Maria Mitsopoulou (25/10 - 1, 9/11)
Sophia Kyanidou (31/10 - 8/11)

DORABELLA
Irini Karaianni (24, 26/10 - 2/11)
Artemis Bogri (25/10 - 1, 9/11)
Mary-Ellen Nesi (31/10 - 8/11)

GUGLIELMO
Dionyssis Sourbis (24, 26/10 - 2/11)
Haris Andrianos (25/10 - 1, 9/11)
Νikos Kotenidis (31/10 - 8/11)

FERRANDO
Antonis (Αnthony) Koroneos (24, 26, 31/10 - 2, 8/11)
Vassilis Kavayas (25/10 - 1, 9/11)

DESPINA
Myrsini Margariti (24, 26/10 - 2/11)
Vassiliki Karagianni (25/10 - 1, 9/11)
Elpiniki Zervou (31/10 - 8/11)

DON ALFONSO
Christophoros Stamboglis (24, 26/10 - 2/11)
Dimitris Kassioumis (25/10 - 1, 9/11)
Petros Magoulas (31/10 - 8/11)

With the GNO Orchestra and Chorus