RELIC // 2015
// a domestic scene for one after the end of reason
RELIC is a survival from the past. A thing left behind, be it memory, object, language or being. Euripides Laskaridis immerses himself and others in ideas of transformation and ridicule that shift restlessly between the peculiarly poignant and the utterly bizarre. This outrageously engaging solo, crafted in the heated heart of the Greek crisis, takes playful risks out far from the norm to test the limits of our acceptance when it comes to things incongruous and unfamiliar. Sly facets of cabaret, vaudeville and slapstick make magic out of the mundane, manoeuvering audiences unawares into moments unexpectedly transcendent.
// where & when
// 2015
SPAIN // BARCELONA // Aerowaves Spring Forward Festival // 18 April 2015 // première [two shows in one day]
AUSTRIA // BURGENLAND // Burgenländische Tanztage International Dance Festival // 8 May 2015
CZECHIA // PRAGUE // Prague Quadrennial // 18 & 19 May 2015 // RELIC – JOSEF MÁNES [outdoor site-specific iteration]
GREECE // ATHENS // Athens & Epidaurus Festival // 15 & 16 July 2015
GREECE // KALAMATA // Kalamata International Dance Festival // 23 July 2015
// 2016
FRANCE // BORDEAUX // Trente Trente // 30 January 2016
FRANCE // REIMS // Comédie de Reims // 2 February 2016
FINLAND // HELSINKI // Side Step Festival // 6 & 7 February 2016
FINLAND // KUOPIO // ITAK – Regional Dance Centre of Eastern Finland // 12 February 2016
SWITZERLAND // LAUSANNE // Les Printemps de Sévelin // 28 February & 1 March 2016
NETHERLANDS // AMSTERDAM // Dansmakers Amsterdam – EDN Atelier // 11 March 2016
GREECE // ATHENS // Rēs Ratio Network // 11 & 12 April 2016
FRANCE // PARIS // Palais de Tokyo – Théâtre de la Ville // 13 May 2016 [two shows in one day]
ITALY // TURIN // Interplay Festival // 23 May 2016
IRELAND // DUBLIN // Dublin Dance Festival // 26-28 May 2016
SPAIN // VALENCIA // Tercera Setmana Festival // 12 June 2016
SWITZERLAND // ZURICH // Zürcher Theater Spektakel Festival // 29 & 30 August 2016
SLOVENIA // MURSKA SOBOTA // Front@ Festival // 1 September 2016
FRANCE // LYON // Biennale de la danse // 27 & 28 September 2016
GREECE // ATHENS // Bios // 14, 21 & 28 December 2016 [six shows over three days]
// 2017
UNITED KINGDOM // LONDON // Mime London – Barbican Pit // 31 January – 4 February 2017
ISRAEL // JERUSALEM // Israel Festival Jerusalem // 15 June 2017 [two shows in one night]
FRANCE // SAINT-ÉTIENNE // Festival des 7 Collines // 30 June 2017 [two shows in one night]
CYPRUS // LIMASSOL // Dance House Lemesos – Open House Festival // 8 October 2017
CYPRUS // NICOSIA // Cyprus Theatre Organisation – Dubitanda // 10 & 11 October 2017
ITALY // SARDINIA // Danza Sassari Danza Festival // 9 November 2017
// 2018
ITALY // ANCONA // Inteatro Festival // 23 June 2018
GREECE // THESSALONIKI // Dimitria Festival // 8 & 9 October 2018
FRANCE // RÉUNION – SAINT-DENIS // Total Danse Festival // 15 November 2018
// 2019
UNITED STATES // NEW YORK // The Public Theater – Onassis USA // 10-13 April 2019
ROMANIA // SIBIU // Sibiu International Theatre Festival (FITS) // 20 June 2019 [two shows in one night]
// 2020
GREECE // ATHENS // Onassis Stegi // 28 January 2020
FRANCE // ANNECY // Bonlieu Scène nationale Annecy // 11-13 February 2020
// 2021
PORTUGAL // LISBON // Museu da Marinha – CCB // 20 & 21 May 2021
SPAIN // SALAMANCA // FACYL Festival Teatro Juan del Enzina // 9 October 2021
// 2022
SERBIA // BELGRADE // Belgrade Dance Festival – Bitef Theatre // 22 & 23 March 2022
// 2023
SPAIN // MADRID // Centro de Cultura Contemporánea Condeduque // 1 & 2 February 2023
ROMANIA // TIMISOARA // Timisoara 2023 European Capital of Culture –The Hungarian State Theatre "Csiky Gergely” // 21 May 2023
FRANCE // PANTIN // Centre National de la Danse // 26, 27 & 28 June 2023
// reviews
“...anarchic, physical theatre that will live long in the memory. Euripides Laskaridis is a Greek exponent of the theatre of the absurd, without inhibition and possessing enormous charisma.”
“He is the most ridiculous of impossible bodies, and so, on some level, the most tragic of Frankensteinian monstrosities. Your own brain keeps thinking what the fuck? and then: what the hell, just go with it. It’s worth it.”
“Laskaridis masters simple but effective movements and a colourful range of vocal sounds. His sharp imagination messes with our expectations of any familiar gesture or attitude he undertakes, transforming them into dreamlike connections. Again and again, each amusing twist makes one feel more and more at home in Relic’s bizarre atmosphere.”
“A striking show at the Barbican — unexpectedly affecting!”
// awards & nominations
UNITED KINGDOM // Theatre & Technology Awards 2017
Creative Innovation In Lighting [RELIC // Eliza Alexandropoulou – WINNER]
Creative Innovation In Sound [RELIC // Euripides Laskaridis & Kostas Michopoulos – FINALISTS]
// project info
RELIC // 2015
// solo
// 40 minutes
direction, choreography & set design // Euripides Laskaridis
performed by // Euripides Laskaridis
directorial consultant // Tatiana Bre
costume design // Angelos Mentis
dramaturgy consultant // Alexandros Mistriotis
sound design & live operation // Kostas Michopoulos
lighting consultant // Eliza Alexandropoulou
music consultant // Kornelios Selamsis
lighting installation // Miltos Athanasiou
lighting technicians // Konstantinos Margas & Giorgos Melissaropoulos
sound installation & live operation // Nikolas Kollias, Kostis Pavlopoulos & Giorgos Chanos
assistant to the director // Ioanna Plessa
special constructions // Marios Sergios Eliakis, Ioanna Plessa & Melina Terzakis
creative assistants // James Konstantinidis & Natasa Kouvari
set assistant on tour // Tzela Christopoulou & Konstantinos Chaldaios
production & tour managers // Aristea Charalampidou [2016], Maria Dourou [2017-18], Zoe Mouschi [2018] & Simona Fremder [2018-23]
tour technical director // Konstantinos Margas
tour production assistance // Nikos Mavrakis – TooFarEast Productions [2019-23]
photography // Miltos Athanasiou & Evi Fylaktou
camera operators // Anouk Arra, Marios Sergios Eliakis & Dimitris Triandafyllou
video trailer edited by // Euripides Laskaridis
an Aerowaves 2015 piece
co-produced by // the Athens & Epidaurus Festival [GR] & the OSMOSIS performing arts company [GR]
presented in collaboration with // EdM Productions – Rial & Eshelman [2018-23]
special thanks to // Dimitris Papaioannou for his unstinting support every step of the way, from the very first rehearsal right down until today, generously providing invaluable advice – true tools of gold – as well as people power so that RELIC could be born with a minimum of means, and to Angelos Mentis, who graced RELIC with an ingenious body without which the work would not exist
thanks also to // Kate Adams, Thanassis Akokkalidis, Yorgos and Roula Alahouzos, Kostas Angelou (NoDark), Anouk Arra, Anna Arthur, John Ashford, Yorgos Bakalos, Georgios Bambanaras, Francesca Bayre, Ash Bulayev, Argyro Chioti, Christoforos Christofis, Erifyli Dafermou, Christos Delidimos, Thanassis Deliyiannis, Marina Demertzian, Alexandros Diakos, Kelly Diapouli, Nikos Dragonas, Panayiotis Evangelidis, Pere Faura, Makis Gazis, Dimitris Halatsis, Fani Harvalia, Stuart Hopps, Michalis Houndis, Phillipa Howarth, Philippos Kanakaris, Sotiris Kanellopoulos, Dio Kangelari, Marianna Kapsimali, Konstantinos Kapsimalis, Antigone Karali, Christina Karatinou, Iris Karayan, Kyriacos Karseras, Yorgos Kassavetis, Marianna Kavallieratos, Kali Kavvatha, Vicky Kolovou, Alexandros Konstantinopoulos, Dimitris Kouza, Rinio Kyriazi, Tassis & Rena Laskaridis, Lia Laskaridou, Olia Lazaridou, Nikos Legakis, Sylvia Liouliou, Rita Littou, Yorgos Loukos, Fabiola Mancinelli, Michail Marmarinos, Elena Mavridou, Yorgos Mitropoulos, Julian Mommert, Evgenia Mylonaki, Vikos Nachmias, Dinos Nikolaou, Tina Papanikolaou, Andreas Pashias, Simos Patieridis, Christos Perzos, Giorgos Poulios, Alkistis Poulopoulou, Manos Protopappas, Vassilia Rozana, Kostas Sfinarolis, Thomas Sfounis, Irini Simeoforidou, Kalliopi Simou, Drossos Skotis, Ingo Starz, Lina Stergiou, Efthymis Theou, Frosso Troussa, Adam Tsapekos, Evgenia Tzirtzilaki, Stelios Vafeas, Alexandros Vrettos, Christos Xyrafakis, Cleopatra Plessa for her juicers, Yorgos Karamanis for his gracious donations in kind, Argyris Pantazaras for his ancient Greek sculpted bust, Efi Katantasiou and Litsa Moumouri for their magic sewing needles & Vicky Marangopoulou for providing RELIC with its “passport”
