LAPIS LAZULI // 2024
// a metamorphic rock showing unpredictable behaviour under pressure
Having successfully completed three stage works – RELIC (2015), TITANS (2017), and ELENIT (2019) – that toured continuously around the world until 2023, Euripides Laskaridis is now ready to embark on a new touring project titled LAPIS LAZULI. Inspired by the mesmerizing blue semi-precious stone renowned for its unpredictable behaviour under pressure, Laskaridis seeks to create a captivating and enigmatic new world filled with intriguing dualities. The name of the stone itself, lapis lazuli (often interpreted as the "Stone from Heaven"), hints at an origin that is both earthly and celestial. It was this very duality inherent in the stone's name that ignited the artist's unfolding quest to bring on stage a tapestry of fascinating contrasts.
LAPIS LAZULI is an international co-production between Greece, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Finland and Bulgaria, which premiered on April 4th 2024 at the main stage of Onassis Stegi, setting off on an extensive worldwide tour.
// where & when
// 2024
GREECE // ATHENS // Onassis Stegi // 4-27 April 2024 // world première
SPAIN // MADRID // Teatros del Canal // 10 & 11 May 2024
BULGARIA // PLOVDIV // ONE Dance Festival – Boris Hristov House of Culture // 25 & 26 May 2024
NETHERLANDS // AMSTERDAM // Julidans // 4 & 5 July 2024
SPAIN // BARCELONA // Grec Festival De Barcelona – Mercat de les Flors // 13 & 14 July 2024
ITALY // TURIN // Torinodanza Festival – Fonderie Limone // 22 & 23 October 2024
Upcoming tour stops, which include visits to our co-producers among other destinations, to be announced soon.
// reviews
“The performances of this very idiosyncratic, original creator who is at once a visual artist, choreographer, dramaturg, and ingenious constructor, are meant for our hearts, not our minds.
During the passionate, sustained applause of yesterday’s premiere at the Onassis Stegi […] I was searching for the connection between lapis lazuli and the performance we had enjoyed. I found it in the magical properties of the stone, in the inexplicable and paranormal elements that the alchemist Laskaridis always manages to infuse into his works, transforming his humble materials into captivating entertainment.”
“Laskaridis’ LAPIS LAZULI comes in a way straight from the future, it almost screams in the face of the mundane and leaves a legacy on stage of a daring artist, determined to continue creating with defiance leaving aside the traditional conservative clarity that contemporary theatre unfortunately often seeks.”
“LAPIS LAZULI by the masterful Euripides Laskaridis is an unrelenting allegory for the transformative power of theatre—a testament to the expansive intellect of theatrical performance. An onnagata werewolf and a seahorse who perished in his arms.”
“Laskaridis practices comedy in a pataphysical way. He moves against the current of norms. That is, he subverts the whole theory that wants drama to claim through its seriousness the great truths of life, and shows us that comedy leads to clearings, constantly veering off course.”
“I understood from the beginning that the theatre Euripides Laskaridis sows, harvests, and reaps is not suitable for critical analysis, nor for simple description […]. Because the stage universe of Laskaridis is not something that is described externally, like an image across, but internally, like an inside dream.
Laskaridis extends the joy of theatre that asks for nothing more than to remain theatre and nothing else […]. He simply wants us to let go while it lasts, to stop arranging things, composing and interpreting them... He wants us to rediscover our ability to dream with our eyes open.
The most important thing that I discern in LAPIS LAZULI is its simple – “simple” because it is candid – beauty. Here we find, from a Greek creator, the joy of art that can give birth to another world right before us […]. Without realizing it, Laskaridis makes us accomplices of his innocence, co-sleepwalkers of his dream.”
“[An] orgy party of the grotesque that culminates in a blending of philosophical beauty.”
“In just a few words Euripides Laskaridis creates a web of irony and sharp criticism of the “dictatorship” of Scientific thinking in modern societies. Proposing a handmade but far from simplistic art [...], he returns with a liminal spectacle that incorporates disparate genres of performing arts, forms, aesthetic and cultural eras.”
“A performance of high aesthetic qualities! A unique extravaganza that vibrates all the senses. It’s the ultimate “surprise” that Laskaridis has in store for the viewers.”
// project info
LAPIS LAZULI // 2024
// a mid-scale piece for five performers and a dazzling seahorse
conceived & directed by // Euripides Laskaridis
with // Angelos Alafogiannis, Maria Bregianni//Eftychia Stefanou, Euripides Laskaridis, Dimitris Matsoukas & Spyros Ntogas
original music & sound design // Giorgos Poulios
dramaturgy consultant // Alexandros Mistriotis
set design // Sotiris Melanos
lighting design // Stefanos Droussiotis
special acoustic & electronic sound inventions, sounding objects // Yorgos Stenos
artistic collaborators – costumes // Christos Delidimos & Alegia Papageorgiou
props & special constructions // Konstantinos Chaldaios
artistic collaborator – set // Vagelis Xenodochidis
movement consultant // Nikos Dragonas
assistants to the director // Charikleia Petraki & Yannis Savouidakis
tour artistic collaborator // Marianna Kavallieratos
artistic collaborator & rehearsal stand-in // Telis Tellakis
artistic collaborator Onassis AiR Fellowship 2022 research – costume // Aggelos Mentis
artistic collaborators Onassis AiR Fellowship 2022 research – set // Loukas Bakas & Filanthi Bougatsou
technical director // Konstantinos Margkas
sound engineers // Martha Kapazoglou, Giorgos Chanos & Kostis Pavlopoulos
lighting technician & special lighting constructions // Giorgos Ierapetritis
props & special constructions assistant // Timothy Laskaratos
production assistant // Nikos Charalampidis
production runners // Theologos Kampouris & Lida Manousou Alexiou
assistant director intern // Katerina Tsolou
set design intern & logo design // Konstantinos Papantonis
props interns // Aphrodite Psychouli, Ilektra Anichini Pantalaki & Efthymis Gronthos
costumes intern // Ernesta Chatzilemonidou
dramaturgy intern // Jimmy Machai
directorial feedback – tech weeks // Talya Rubin
lights stand-in // Alexandra Drandaki
OSMOSIS operations coordinator & communications editor // Euklida Velaj
executive production, tour & production management // Polyplanity Productions / Yolanda Markopoulou & Vicky Strataki
photography // Pinelopi Gerasimou, Elina Giounanli & Julian Mommert
cinematography & colour correction by // Nikos Nikolopoulos
video trailer edited by // Euripides Laskaridis
a project by // Euripides Laskaridis & the OSMOSIS performing arts company [GR]
produced by // Onassis Stegi [GR]
supported by // the Fondation d’Entreprise Hermès [FR]
co-produced by // Théâtre de la Ville [FR], Théâtre de Liège [BE], Espoo Theatre Finland [FI], Teatros del Canal [ES], Teatro della Pergola Firenze [IT], Festival Aperto / Fondazione I Teatri Reggio Emilia [IT] & the Big Pulse Dance Alliance festivals: Julidans [NL], Torinodanza Festival / Teatro Stabile di Torino – Teatro Nazionale [IT] & One Dance Festival [BG]
co-funded by // the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union
with the support of // Megaron – the Athens Concert Hall [GR]
with the financial support of // the Greek Ministry of Culture
// initial research & development were made possible with the support of the Onassis AiR Fellowship [GR]
special thanks to // Dimitris Papaioannou & Tina Papanikolaou for their unwavering support from start to finish! Thank you for your precious time and your priceless guidance throughout this journey.
thanks also to // Irad Avni, Rafailia Bampasidou, Antonia Economou, Doxa Glava, Santi Guillamon, Marianna Kavallieratos, Vicky Kaminari, Kali Kavvatha, Sylvia Liouliou, Vicky Maragkopoulou, Kostas Michopoulos, Drosos Skotis, Stelios Theodorou, Manolis Vitsaxakis // and to Papapostolou Orthopedics & Medical Supplies for kindly providing the anatomical skeleton model.
