“Intolerance”, is the monumental three-hour, episodic silent film by D.W. Griffith, which many consider the artistic equal of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and the masterpieces of Michelangelo.

Made in 1916, the film examines intolerance—national, political, religious and social—through four stories which span the centuries from the fall of ancient Babylon to the Crucifixion of Christ and from the Saint Bartholomew’s Day massacre to the class struggle of the early 20th century. Its conclusion: intolerance is an incurable human pathology.

“Human coexistence on Earth is conveyed as ongoing civil strife”, notes Io Voulgaraki, a creator of supremely atmospheric, fiercely passionate spectacles with tragi-comic tones. For her “Intolerance”, due to be presented at the Onassis Cultural Centre, Voulgaraki stages only the last of the film’s four sections, in which an innocent man is condemned for a crime he did not commit. Set against the puritanism and unbridled capitalism of the US in 1914–15, the production uses a contemporary theatrical idiom to compose a silent music-theatre epic which tackles the issue of ‘intolerance versus solidarity’.

A cast of ten and a quartet playing original music by Thodoris Abazis join her in this keenly-awaited spectacle which—promising political, social and existential self-knowledge—poses the question: “Us” or “them” forever. But why “forever”?

Direction: Io Voulgaraki
Set-Costume Design: Anna Fedorova
Music: Thodoris Abazis
Movement: Stavroula Siamou
Lighting: Alekos Anastasiou
Video: Nikos Pastras
Make up design: Evi Zafiropoulou
Scientific collaborator: Nikitas Siniosoglou
Journalistic Research: Kiriakos Argiropoulos
Assistant to the Director: Amalia Kavali
Assistant to the Set Designer:Margarita Chatzioannou
Set Construction: LAZARIDIS SCENIC STUDIO
With: Giorgos Gallos, Dimitris Georgiadis, Stelios Iakovidis, Despina Kourti, Alexandros Logothetis, Argyris Xafis, Sokratis Patsikas, Evi Saoulidou, Natalia Tsaliki, Nikos Chatzopoulos
Musicians: Maria Deli, Thodoris Kotepanos, Fotis Papantoniou, Dimitris Chountis
Produced by: Onassis Cultural Centre
Line Production Managment: Lyssis

PARALLEL EVENTS

On Friday, January 20th after the performance Io Voulgaraki will talk about the performance.
Event chaired by Grigoris Ioannidis, theatre critic and assistant professor of Drama Studies, University of Athens.
Sunday, January, 24 & 31
Theatre workshop by Io Voulgaraki

SOURCE: Onassis Cultural Centre
PHOTO: © Thanassis Krikis