THE ARTAUD DIPTYCH
[2 shows back2back: "Artaud / Van Gogh" & "Bone"]
THE ARTAUD DIPTYCH consists of two new plays (Artaud/Van Gogh & Bone) which are written by two prolific Greek playwrights, Ioli Andreadi & Aris Asproulis, inspired by the life and work of the groundbreaking artist and thinker of the 20th century Antonin Artaud.
April 13th, 14th & 15th: Artaud/Van Gogh at 7:00 PM, Bone at 8:00 PM
Both plays of THE ARTAUD DIPTYCH are presented, back-to-back, on Thursday April 13th, Friday April 14th and Saturday April 15th: “Artaud/Van Gogh” at 7pm (in English) and “Bone” at 8pm (with English subtitles). THE ARTAUD DIPTYCH is presented in the Tank Theatre with the kind sponsorship of “The George & Victoria Karelia Foundation”, the kind support of “The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation” and “The Michael Cacoyannis Foundation” and under the auspices of “The Consulate General of Greece in New York”.
Artaud / Van Gogh: Paris, 1947. Antonin Artaud appears in a packed auditorium. He looks calm. After nine years of psychiatric confinement and having suffered 51 electric shocks in the last year alone, he seems to have returned to ‘order’. The title of his lecture is ‘Van Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society’. The audience is silent. However, his conviction is high. He has come with proof. He carries it in the 406 scribbled notebooks he has never parted with. All the good society of Paris has filled the place to hear him – Gide, Breton, Camus, Lacan. Artaud passionately defends an idea: Van Gogh’s suicide had its executioners. Initially looking for the reasons for his suicide in the paintings and correspondence of the great painter, he suspects that the real perpetrators are among his audience. Artaud feels Van Gogh’s pulse and prophesies. He wants to unmask the culprits. He wants to cry out for the innocent; to articulate the last syllable between the great injustice of the world and what it takes for someone to end up sleeping with a loaded gun in his arms. The play is inspired by Artaud’s ‘Van Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society,’ published in ‘47, a year before the author’s death.
Bone: In Paris 1935, Artaud invents a new theatrical form, the Theater of Cruelty, and to put it into practice he creates the play The Cenci – a tragedy about the Count Cenci of Rome who was found murdered by his underage daughter. The play premiered at the Folies Wagram Theater and failed miserably. Artaud decides he will never direct again, travels in search of redemption and is arrested for vagrancy. In 1938, he was officially declared “insane” and was taken to a psychiatric hospital, where he would remain for 9 years. In the last year alone, he was subjected to more than 51 electric shocks. There he acquires the obsession that they come in his sleep and poison his dreams by doing magic, there he falls into a coma and wakes up while he was being taken to the morgue, and there the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan says triumphantly that “finally Mr. Artaud was healed; he will not have to write anything anymore.” In 1946 he regained his freedom of movement, having, however, suffered irreparable damage from the methods of treatment. The “Friends of Antonin Artaud” organized a night dedicated to his work, but he was not allowed to enter, due to the possibility of another ferocious outburst. Disappointed, Artaud voluntarily returns to his cell, deciding to transform into the most virtuoso performer and give one last solo, an outburst, in front of a non-judgmental audience. An audience he will create with his mind. An audience born to love him. He sets up the old stage of the “failed” Cenci, he brings his soul to the forefront, strips it down and sings it with passion and mastery. In a dreamy landscape of memory and with the rhythm of music, he follows the descent into a deep and unspeakable confession. Artist, genius, revolutionary, revisionist, poet, teacher, delusional, aggressive, epileptic, self-destructive and deeply, deeply in love, he composes in a provocative way his final verdict against the modern decency, sticking out his tongue at the concocted authorities of our time and restoring the Theater of Cruelty to its rightful place: in the fiery hearts of the rebels.
In the first play of THE ARTAUD DIPTYCH entitled "Artaud / Van Gogh" the role of Antonin Artaud is performed by the excellent American actor Gene Gillette and in the second play entitled "Bone" the role of Antonin Artaud is performed by the popular Greek actor Gerasimos Gennatas while with him on stage is the great Greek musician-performer George Palamiotis.
The performances are presented under the direction of the preeminent Greek director Ioli Andreadi and have already received important awards and rave reviews, as they were presented this season in the most historic theatre in Greece, the “Art Theatre Karolos Koun”:
- “Best Actor 2022” according to the editors’ choices of “Athens Voice” Magazine (Bone) - “One of the Best Shows of the year” according to the editors of “247news Magazine” (Artaud/Van Gogh) - “One of the Best Actors of the year” in “Athinorama Magazine’s Readers Awards” (Bone) - “One of Best Shows of the year” in “Athens Voice Magazine's Readers Awards” (The Artaud Diptych)
The biggest surprise of the season. Gillette becomes Artaud himself. A performance on how an actor can incarnate such a turbulent personality and touch perfection | Georgia Oikonomou - News247
The charismatic actor Gene Gillette has not simply stepped into the skin of the role, but has studied in depth the personality he is portraying. As a sensitive seismograph, he captures his enduring emotional and psychological mutations, his twitches, his wandering in the void, between wisdom and rational contradiction. Two burning eyes and a burning body reveal a Truth that has come from the deep darkness of existence and isolation. In Gillette's hands, Artaud transforms into those biblical prophets who, with their fiery speech, alone on top of a mountain, blast the crowds. Andreadi succeeds in finding the ideal teammate in this multi-year effort to portray Artaud and creates a stripped-down spectacle, where the actor is the absolute protagonist. | Giorgos Mitropoulos - Euronews
It's impressive how Gillette stunts -even literally in some scenes of the show- between the insanity of madness and the hero's moments of clarity. He is giving a lesson on what is called "all in good measure" in acting and how this is the key to any great performance. The direction of Ioli Andreadi makes the best use of the great actor, investing in his directness, which perfectly fits the condition of speech. | Giota Dimitriadi
The great American actor Gene Gillette enchants us with his performance with a disarming simplicity, without using any outbursts and any acting clichés. We were hanging on his lips, feeling like we saw Artaud himself. We felt the pain, the injustice he suffered, we felt the rage and the desire to expose the hypocrisy of society. Don't miss this theatrical experience. | Vivian Mitsakou - theaterproject365
Bone is deeply moving because of its strength and directness; it is a punch in the gut. Maria Kriou ~ Athinorama
We saw Bone, the performance that sticks the tongue out to contemporary propriety. | Georgia Oikonomou ~ news247
Andreadi is communicating directly with Artaud, leading the performance ritualistically in terms of a shamanic ritual, away from bourgeois aesthetic and perception. | Kostas Zisis ~ Documento
This work manages to not only present the great Artaud but also to do justice to him. | Gregory Ioannides
Efsyn Bone is a prophetic elegy about the ostensibility that will – at some point soon – conquer the world. | Kostas Koulis ~ Noizy
A show-hymn to the genius of Antonin Artaud performed by the luminous actor Gerasimos Gennatas. | Vasilis Kokonis ~ Free Sunday
A theatrical miracle. |George Douatzis ~ fractal
Extraordinary direction. Inconceivable acting. Amazing text! Bravo, bravo, bravo. | Chrysa Kokkinou ~ theatro.gr
A show that manages to turn the theoretical conception of Artaud about a theatre that heals the audience into practice. | Smaro Kotsia ~ theatrikaprogrammata.gr
Cast
Artaud / Van Gogh Antonin Artaud: Gene Gillette
Bone Antonin Artaud: Gerasimos Gennatas
Live Music Performance by George Palamiotis
Crew
Direction: Ioli Andreadi
Original Plays: Ioli Andreadi & Aris Asproulis
Translation in English: Ioli Andreadi
Set Design: Dimitra Liakoura
Lighting Design: Sakis Birbilis
Original music: George Palamiotis (Bone) & Erato Kremmida (Artaud / Van Gogh)
Costumes Design: Kostantinos Kaspiris (Bone) & Dimitra Liakoura (Artaud / Van Gogh) Photographer: Kiki Papadopoulou
Video Trailer: Michael Mavromoustakos
Production Manager: Orestis Tatsis
With the kind sponsorship of The George & Victoria Karelias Foundation
With the kind support of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation The Michael Cacoyannis Foundation Under the auspices of The Consulate General of Greece in New York
Partners: REON non-profit artistic company, The Art Theatre Karolos Koun
THE ARTAUD DIPTYCH is published by Kapa Publishing House in a bilingual Greek/English edition
MEET THE TEAM
GENE GILLETE
ANTONIN ARTAUD
The American Actor Gene Gillete became more widely known to theater audiences from his performance as Hamlet at the Denver Civic Theater and more recent work in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ at the Lincoln Center Theater – considered “the most successful American play in Broadway history,” according to 60 Minutes, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ (Broadway, National Theatre), and ‘War Horse’ (Broadway), among many others. Last May, he starred in John Ransom Phillips’ ‘Shooting Celebrities’ at the Flea Theater in New York, directed by Christopher McElroen, portraying Mary Lincoln’s photographer and Abraham Lincoln himself. Gillette has also appeared in popular series on Netflix, Disney+, NBC, and CBS including: Law & Order, The Blacklist, Punisher, Madam Secretary, Instinct, Quantico, The Good Wife, Elementary, Person of Interest, Ringer, and many more.
GERASIMOS GENNATAS
ANTONIN ARTAUD
Gerasimos Gennatas is a lead actor and stage director based in Athens Greece. He is best known for his performance in Defending the Caveman and his portrayal of “Truffaldino Battochio” in Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters, for which he received the “Greek Critics Union Award” for Best Performance, 1998. Most recently he portrayed Antonin Artaud in the Bone, directed by Ioli Andreadi, at the Theater of Art “Karolos Koun”, for which he was nominated “Best Male Performance, 2022” in “Athinorama Magazine’s Readers Awards” which are the most important theater awards in Greece. During his career he has been the lead actor in many classical and contemporary plays. Some of his lead roles include “Sganarelle” in Dom Juan, “Iago” in Othello, “Napoleon” in Peace & War, “Guildenstern” in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Andrea in Life of Galileo and "Kreon” in Oedipus the Tyrann. Other theatrical credits include: Biedermann and the Arsonists, Bremen Freedom, Misanthrope, Vucek, George Dandin, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Anna Karenina, Victor or Power to the Children, The Reunification of the Two Koreas, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), Medea, Ploutos, Lysistrata and Prometheus Bound. He has appeared on multiple television shows, including “The Other Me”, “You are mymatch”, "Fugitive Love", "If you knew", "10th commandment", "Dirty Talking" and "Dark Sea". Gerasimos received his BA in Acting from Veaki drama school and is also a teacher of acting and improvisation
GEORGE PALAMIOTIS
ORIGINAL MUSIC & LIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCE
George Palamiotis is a bass player constantly expanding the sonic palette of his instrument either through technique or by sound manipulation. A Berklee College of Music alumnus, where he studied on a scholarship, before continuing his sonic quest in London’s underground scene and later mingling with traditional African musicians in Paris. Apart from working as a musician and an educator, he co-wrote and co-hosted a successful educational music program for Greek television (ERT SA), and since 2015 he is the producer and artistic director of Elaionas Festival (in collaboration with Athens Prefecture).
IOLI ANDREADI
DIRECTOR & CO-WRITER
Ioli Andreadi is a theatre and performance director, playwright, and Dr. (King’s College London). From 2003, she has worked as a theatre director and playwright in Greece and abroad (UK, New York, Berlin, Rome), having directed 38 theatre productions. She studied Directing at RADA (MA). Her PhD in Theatre and Performance at King’s College London was published in English by Kapa Publishing House under the title: Anastenaria: Ritual, Theatre, Performance; An Experiential Study. She is a Fulbright Artist/Arts Scholar, having conducted her research on the dialogue between musical theatre and ancient tragedy in NY (NYMF). She is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Director’s Lab as an SNF grantee. Her ongoing postdoctoral research on Antonin Artaud and Neuroscience (2015-today) is soon to be published under the supervision of Professor Cornelia Poulopoulou,. She is teaching Performance: Theory and Practice (her book Performance: Theory and Practice; Directing, Philosophy and Culture was published by KPH) and Art and Symbols as a Guest Lecturer at Universities in Greece and abroad (UOA, University of Cyprus, King’s College London, Aberystwyth University, Brooklyn College CUNY, University of Greenwich UK). She is teaching yoga for actors (Yoga Alliance certification).
With Aris Asproulis, Ioli has co-authored 14 theatrical texts (original and adaptations) from 2015 until today, which have been staged in Greece, New York and London, directed by Ioli Andreadi and having received excellent reviews. Ioli Andreadi and Aris Asproulis specialize in creating original theatrical works, based on the study of real events, through research of primary archival material; documents and publications; interviews; books; field work. They also share a deep interest in the Classics (literature, theatre, art), having adopted for the stage a three-hour version of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, a two-hour version of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Euripides’ Ion and Helen. Their work also includes three new plays on the life and work of Antonin Artaud: Artaud/Van Gogh, The Cenci Family and Bone. All their plays have been published by Kapa Publishing House.
ARIS ASPROULIS
CO-WRITER
Aris Asproulis is a Dr. of Sociology, Panteion University, playwright, Artistic Director of the Interbalkan Festival of Ancient Drama of Attica Region and Director of Communication & Publicity of the historic Art Theater Karolos Koun. Since 2006, Aris has worked as a publicist of both major and experimental theatre and cultural events, national and international, in Greece, including Epidaurus and Odeon of Herodes Atticus. He is teaching Sociology of Work, Immigration and Gender in Greece and abroad (Panteion University, UOWM, University of Durham) and Communication and Publicity at Artens Seminars.
With Ioli Andreadi, Aris has co-authored 14 theatrical texts (original and adaptations) from 2015 until today, which have been staged in Greece, New York and London, directed by Ioli Andreadi and having received excellent reviews. Ioli Andreadi and Aris Asproulis specialize in creating original theatrical works, based on the study of real events, through research of primary archival material; documents and publications; interviews; books; field work. They also share a deep interest in the Classics (literature, theatre, art), having adopted for the stage a three-hour version of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, a two-hour version of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Euripides’ Ion and Helen. Their work also includes three new plays on the life and work of Antonin Artaud: Artaud/Van Gogh, The Cenci Family and Bone. All their plays have been published by Kapa Publishing House.
DIMITRA LIAKOURA
SET & COSTUME DESIGN
Dimitra Liakoura:Born and raised in Corinth, Greece. She studied theatre theory in National & Kapodistrian University of Athens and completed her MA in Design for Performance and Practice in Central Saint Martins College, London. She has participated in numerous performances as a scenographerand costume designer, in various theatre stages and venues including National Theatre of Greece, Onassis Cultural Foundation (Stegi), Greek Festival, Michalis Cacoyiannis Foundation, Theatre of Art, Karolos Koun etc. She also works as a production designer & costume designer for cinema. She was the costume designer for feature film ”Apples” with executive producer Cate Blanchett. She was the art director of the feature film "Sima's Song" an international production of the first Afghan woman director Roya Sadat. She has participated in group exhibitions with performances and artworks and lately she is involved in curation too. She is doing her phD on the Dramaturgy of Colors, Theatre Studies University, Nafplio.
SAKIS BIRBILIS
LIGHTING DESIGN
Sakis Birbilis is a visionary conceptual artist passionately devoted to theatrical, music and dance productions since 1996. Using light as his main instrument he creates unique environments releasing original creativity and technical artistry. He has been contributing essentially to acclaimed work of artistic & production value.
ERATO KREMMYDA
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Erato A. Kremmyda is a New York City based composer, and sometimes music director, arranger, orchestrator, music supervisor and sound designer. Born and raised in Athens, Greece, she works across genres and countries and most frequently collaborates on projects for the stage or the screen. A Jonathan Larson Award winner with collaborator Maggie-Kate Coleman, a Fulbright fellow and an Anna Sosenko Trust Grant recipient, she is a graduate of Tisch School of the Arts (Master of Fine Arts), Steinhardt NYU (Master of Music), Athens University and Athens Conservatoire.
KONSTANTINOS KASPIRIS
COSTUME DESIGN
Konstantinos Kaspiris is a costume designer, art and costume historian, stylist, image maker and fashion expert. He studied medicine, worked in Italy and was for 25 years art director and fashion manager at the central television channel of Greece "ANT1". He has edited cinematographic films, theatrical performances (among them at the Ancient Theater of Epidaurus and Herodeion), advertising spots and fashion shows.
KIKI PAPADOPOULOU
PHOTOGRAPHER
Freelance photographer and journalist. Her photos, articles and videos have been published in festivals, magazines, newspapers, books, posters, theatre programs, tv shows, movies, websites, lookbooks. She never stops listening to music, watching movies and theatrical plays, loves headbanging at gigs and she can live in an airport. Or in Wes Anderson's submarine
Personal website: www.kikipap.com
MICHAEL MAVROMOUSTAKOS
VIDEO TRAILER / FILMING SHOWS
Michael Mavromoustakos grew up on the beautiful island of Rhodes, Greece. He is a graduate of the "Stavrakou" Cinema Directing School. He directs and edits video clips, video trailers, short films, theater with exclusive collaboration with Art Theatre Karolos Koun. He still has distinguished and awarded by many festivals such as: Mad TV Competition - Award for best ecological film from "48 hours Go Green" - 3rd prize from "Argo film festival" for the film "Repulsion" - Award from the Ministry of Finance for social message - "Bridges" festival short film award. Michael always gives a clarity to his image, as well as a sense of spontaneous scene.
ORESTIS TATSIS
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
He was born in Ioannina, Greece. He studied in the department of Philosophy, Education and Psychology in the university of Ioannina. He got his master degree in cultural management from Panteion University. He has held several seminars and has taught Philosophy and Theatre History in Patra’s municipal drama school. He has been the director in the following performances: “The tootsie” by D. Tsekouras, “Madame de Sade” by Yukio Mishima, “The Butterfly’s Evil Spell” by Federico García Lorca, “The decay” by D. Tsekouras, “Terminal Station” by C. Tzamiotis, “Exiles in Athens” based on the novel “Crisis” by Arkadios Leykos, “The tree that loved” by theatrical group ViDa, “The Castle” by Franz Kafka. He is the dramaturgy advisor and longtime collaborator of dancing company “Creo” and artistic director of the theatrical company “Reon”. He has been an assistant director of D. Giannakopoulos, V. Nikolaidis, A. Adipas. His articles on theatre, literature politics, art etc have been published in several magazines, newspapers and online. He is a member of the editorial board and a columnist in the artistic magazine “to Erma”.
*Please note that this performance will be presented at the Tank's in-person performance space at 312 W 36th St. All attendees and artists will be required to display proof of two doses of an approved covid vaccination before being admitted to the space. Patrons will also be required to wear masks, when not eating or drinking.