Vacchae’s Voice – Ioannis Angelakis

Part of the newly established programme “All of Greece, one Culture” through which the Ministry of Culture is trying to “beam” contemporary culture into its historic heritage sites, with activities in archaeological sites and the open spaces around museums.

5 & 6 September 2021

Production by Ergon Ensemble

Music Ioannis Angelakis
Direction George Koutlis
Sets / Costumes Artemis Flessa
Lighting George Agiannitis
Sound designer Thanos Bikos

In Bacchae’s Voice greekness is expressed through the violent use of instruments, the bluntness of the human voices, and the constant strife between two contradictory elements: disparate musical materials that remain indeterminate and anarchic, and a determinate structure that violently imposes form on the formless and shape on the shapeless.

A show that combines contemporary experimental music with musical theater. With the constant use of indefinite voices, the musicians of the show reveal the human voice as a primitive means of non-linguistic communication, creating a sense of primordial ritual. The brutality of voices and instruments are sound events that define violence, as it unfolds through the work of Euripides: between Pentheus and Dionysus, between the opposing forces of human nature, between tradition and the ferocious desire for the new.

The events are offered free of charge by the Ministry of Culture