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Α’ performance: 19 November 2010, Attis Theatre, Athens

NEXT PERFORMANCES: 15 November 2024 – 2 March 2025

ALARME is a stage composition based on the correspondence between Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. It sheds light on the paradoxical love-hate relationship between the two queens, who never actually met in person, in order to highlight the always relevant theme of power.

The two female historical figures face each other on the stage, as fossils but also timeless symbols that represent the corruption and intrigue of power, the aggression and the violence. Elizabeth dominates, Mary Stuart is submissive.

Queen Elizabeth (Sophia Hill) and Mary Stuart (Aglaia Pappa) exchange insults in English and French, mingled with contemporary political references, irony and cruel humor. The words death and blood are repeated as motifs that run through the entire human history.

At their opposite end we see the narrator (Tasos Dimas), a ragged pariah, a representative of the devastated and impoverished people. He is the spokesman of people’s despair, indignation and aversion to power, although he is inevitably dependent on his leaders.

The actors move on a stage beyond all theatrical conventions, like exhibits in a black museum. They expose their feelings to the audience in an era when, as Brecht said about the interwar period, “we will sell even our skin”.

Shows every: 

Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 21.00
Sunday at 19.00

Running time: 60 minutes (no intermission)

Ticketsν: 15€, 10€ (student*)

Tickets available in
https://www.more.com/gr-el/tickets/theater/alarme/

Info: (+30) 210 5226260

2010

19 – 30 November, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece
1 – 30 December, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece

2011

1 – 31 January, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece
1 – 28 February, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece
1 – 31 March, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece
1 – 30 April, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece
1-30 May, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece
28-31 October, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece
1-30 November, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece
1-31 December, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece

2012

1 – 15 January, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece

2013

1 – 31 January, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece
1 – 28 February, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece
1 – 3 March, Attis Theatre, Athens, Greece
31 May, Teatro delle Passioni, IX VIE Festival, Modena, Italy
1 June, Teatro delle Passioni, IX VIE Festival, Modena, Italy
4, 5 October, Avlaia Theatre, 48th Demetria, Thessaloniki, Greece

2018

28, 29, 30 November, Zorlu PSM Studio, 22nd International Istanbul Theatre Festival, Istanbul, Turkey

2019

16 September, New Stage, alexandrinsky Theatre, 9th Theatre Olympics “Creating Bridges”, Saint Petersburg, Russia

2021

29 October, Gobbi Hilda Studio, National Theatre of Budapest, International ΜΙΤΕΜ Festival, Budapest, Hungary

During my recent visit to Athens I discovered a great director, the same level of Brook, Grotowski, Suzuki and Wilson. Although I don’t speak Greek, Terzopoulos’ theatrical “language” is absolutely familiar and comprehensive to me. The power of his performance lies in the visual, acoustic and verbal symbolism of the obsessive nature of two powerful women: Queen Elisabeth A’ and Mary Stewart. Sophia Hill’s incarnation of Elisabeth was for me the second revolution of that night; she stands as the symbol of Great Britain, imperialism, aggressiveness and dominance, dating from back to 16^th century until the Iraqi war and the omnipotence of BBC. Terzopoulos concentrates his political and poetic message in 60 minutes. I am looking forward to see him soon also in England.

Michael Billington, Guardian (republication: Kathimerini. January 16^th, 2011)

Only last year did I discover the genius of Terzopoulos as a theatre director in a short visit to Athens, in order to watch some performances. I was told that the performance Alarme, directed by Theodoros Terzopoulos in Attis Theatre was based on the correspondence between Queen Elizabeth A’ and Maria Stewart. But I was not prepared for what was to follow: an excellent physical, witty, erotic study on the symbiotic relationship between two Queens that never encountered in real life. The two actresses were bending and pressing their stomachs, reminding a couple of gilded snakes which know that their fates are inevitably connected. I recognized at once that I was watching the work of a theatre genius. I could see that Terzopoulos was connected to directors like Jerzy Grotowski, Heiner Müller and Tadashi Suzuki. However, Alarme was clearly the work of a sui generis genius, the work of someone who could create an indelible theatrical image invoking all available vocal and physical expressive means.

Being straight, I found the performance incredibly sexy. What I have gathered was that Terzopoulos, internationally known for directing ancient Greek tragedies, is one of the best living directors, especially when it comes to the interpretation of the despair of a squashed human animal.

Michael Billington, The Influentials 2011: Theodoros Terzopoulos, The eternal sunshine of the genius theatre mind
LIFO, December 21^st, 2011 http://www.lifo.gr/mag/features/3022

And my belief that experiment can be combined with perfectly calibrated art was confirmed by an amazing Greek director, Theodoros Terzopoulos, whose work I first saw in Athens a year ago but who remains mysteriously unknown in Britain. In terms of formal experiment, I’ve seen little to match his production, Alarme, in which the symbiotic relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots is represented by two female actors who glide and undulate along a tilted platform like hissing serpents.

Michael Billington, E is for Experimental, Guardian, January, 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/jan/10/e-for-experiment-modern-drama?newsfeed=true