LAPIS LAZULI // 2024
// a metamorphic rock showing unpredictable behaviour under pressure
Following the success of RELIC (2015), TITANS (2017), and ELENIT (2019) — which continue to tour globally — Euripides Laskaridis now presents his latest work, LAPIS LAZULI. Inspired by the mesmerizing blue semi-precious stone known for its unpredictable behavior under pressure, Laskaridis crafts an enigmatic world filled with intriguing dualities. The stone's name, often interpreted as the "Stone from Heaven", reflects both earthly and celestial origins, sparking Laskaridis' exploration of contrasts on stage. Paying tribute to the rich diversity of theatrical genres — from amateur to commercial, horror to musical, ancient Greek drama to Kabuki, and beyond — LAPIS LAZULI also celebrates the complexity of the performing arts.
This international co-production, involving collaborators from Greece, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Finland, and Bulgaria, premiered on April 4th, 2024, at the Onassis Stegi in Athens and is set to embark 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
FRANCE // PARIS // Théâtre de la Cité Internationale // 1 – 3 October 2024
ITALY // TURIN // Torinodanza Festival – Fonderie Limone // 22 & 23 October 2024
ITALY // REGGIO EMILIA // Festival Aperto – Fondazione I Teatri di Reggio Emilia // 27 October 2024
GEORGIA // TBILISI // GIFT Festival – Marjanishvili Theater // 12 & 13 November 2024
BELGIUM // CHARLEROI // Charleroi Danse – Les Écuries // 7 December 2024
BELGIUM // LIEGE // Théâtre de Liège // 11 & 12 December 2024
// 2025
CHILE // SANTIAGO // Santiago a Mil International Festival // 17 – 19 January 2025
HELSINKI // FINLAND // Espoon Teatteri // 6 – 8 February 2025
ITALY // FLORENCE // Teatro della Pergola // 20 – 22 February 2025
Upcoming tour stops, which include visits to our co-producers among other destinations, to be added soon.
// reviews
“[An] orgy party of the grotesque that culminates in a blending of philosophical beauty.”
“Laskaridis shows us that contemporaneity doesn’t have to be serious, minimalist, and abstract. Instead, we can embrace classic theater techniques and approaches while using all theatrical tools and resources to enhance creative freedom rather than constrain it... He manages to tell us a ‘story,’ making us feel like children for a while... Crystal-clear aesthetic criterion and an authentically unique style.”
“New, colorful transformations turn the flirtation with danger into an ode to nostalgic horror films. Beneath all the masquerades, deeper themes such as the impact of fear, violence, and trauma on dreams and memories emerge. “What a difficult life, what a beautiful show...”
“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.”
“In Laskaridis’ universe there are no disparate elements, partly because the playful scenography, the spectacular costumes and the eerie music score are well interwoven to create a visually and aurally abundant, neo-baroque style, in which, like a forgotten Hollywood star, a werewolf seeks comfort and goes to sleep while cuddling with a gigantic pink sea-horse.”
“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 // 80 minutes
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 [2023-24], Yannis Savouidakis [2024], Aristea Stefanoudaki [2024]
executive production, tour & production management // Polyplanity Productions / Yolanda Markopoulou & Vicky Strataki
tour management, select stops // Tina Papanikolaou
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 // NEON Organization for Culture and Development [GR]
with the support of // Megaron – the Athens Concert Hall [GR]
with the financial support of // the Greek Ministry of Culture
supported in touring by // the “Outward Turn” Program of Onassis STEGI [GR]
// initial research & development were made possible with the support of the Onassis AiR Fellowship [GR]
special thanks to // Dimitris Papaioannou for his steadfast support and invaluable artistic guidance, providing unwavering assistance and friendship yet one more time, and to Tina Papanikolaou for her dedicated heartfelt care, ensuring sustenance throughout the creation process.
thanks also to // Irad Avni, Rafailia Bampasidou, Nontas Damopoulos, Antonia Economou, Doxa Glava, Santi Guillamon, Vicky Kaminari, Thanos Karanikas, Kali Kavvatha, Manos Kotsaris, Sylvia Liouliou, Vicky Maragkopoulou, Spyros Maragoudakis, Kostas Michopoulos, Drosos Skotis, Stelios Theodorou, Manolis Vitsaxakis & Papapostolou Orthopedics and Medical Supplies for kindly providing the anatomical skeleton model.
