THE ARTAUD DIPTYCH
[2 shows back2back: "Artaud / Van Gogh" & "Bone"]
THE ARTAUD DIPTYCH consists of two new plays (Artaud/Van Gogh & Bone) which are written by two prolific Greek playwrights, Ioli Andreadi & Aris Asproulis, inspired by the life and work of the groundbreaking artist and thinker of the 20th century Antonin Artaud.
April 13th, 14th & 15th: Artaud/Van Gogh at 7:00 PM, Bone at 8:00 PM
Both plays of THE ARTAUD DIPTYCH are presented, back-to-back, on Thursday April 13th, Friday April 14th and Saturday April 15th: “Artaud/Van Gogh” at 7pm (in English) and “Bone” at 8pm (with English subtitles). THE ARTAUD DIPTYCH is presented in the Tank Theatre with the kind sponsorship of “The George & Victoria Karelia Foundation”, the kind support of “The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation” and “The Michael Cacoyannis Foundation” and under the auspices of “The Consulate General of Greece in New York”.
Artaud / Van Gogh: Paris, 1947. Antonin Artaud appears in a packed auditorium. He looks calm. After nine years of psychiatric confinement and having suffered 51 electric shocks in the last year alone, he seems to have returned to ‘order’. The title of his lecture is ‘Van Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society’. The audience is silent. However, his conviction is high. He has come with proof. He carries it in the 406 scribbled notebooks he has never parted with. All the good society of Paris has filled the place to hear him – Gide, Breton, Camus, Lacan. Artaud passionately defends an idea: Van Gogh’s suicide had its executioners. Initially looking for the reasons for his suicide in the paintings and correspondence of the great painter, he suspects that the real perpetrators are among his audience. Artaud feels Van Gogh’s pulse and prophesies. He wants to unmask the culprits. He wants to cry out for the innocent; to articulate the last syllable between the great injustice of the world and what it takes for someone to end up sleeping with a loaded gun in his arms. The play is inspired by Artaud’s ‘Van Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society,’ published in ‘47, a year before the author’s death.
Bone: In Paris 1935, Artaud invents a new theatrical form, the Theater of Cruelty, and to put it into practice he creates the play The Cenci – a tragedy about the Count Cenci of Rome who was found murdered by his underage daughter. The play premiered at the Folies Wagram Theater and failed miserably. Artaud decides he will never direct again, travels in search of redemption and is arrested for vagrancy. In 1938, he was officially declared “insane” and was taken to a psychiatric hospital, where he would remain for 9 years. In the last year alone, he was subjected to more than 51 electric shocks. There he acquires the obsession that they come in his sleep and poison his dreams by doing magic, there he falls into a coma and wakes up while he was being taken to the morgue, and there the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan says triumphantly that “finally Mr. Artaud was healed; he will not have to write anything anymore.” In 1946 he regained his freedom of movement, having, however, suffered irreparable damage from the methods of treatment. The “Friends of Antonin Artaud” organized a night dedicated to his work, but he was not allowed to enter, due to the possibility of another ferocious outburst. Disappointed, Artaud voluntarily returns to his cell, deciding to transform into the most virtuoso performer and give one last solo, an outburst, in front of a non-judgmental audience. An audience he will create with his mind. An audience born to love him. He sets up the old stage of the “failed” Cenci, he brings his soul to the forefront, strips it down and sings it with passion and mastery. In a dreamy landscape of memory and with the rhythm of music, he follows the descent into a deep and unspeakable confession. Artist, genius, revolutionary, revisionist, poet, teacher, delusional, aggressive, epileptic, self-destructive and deeply, deeply in love, he composes in a provocative way his final verdict against the modern decency, sticking out his tongue at the concocted authorities of our time and restoring the Theater of Cruelty to its rightful place: in the fiery hearts of the rebels.
In the first play of THE ARTAUD DIPTYCH entitled "Artaud / Van Gogh" the role of Antonin Artaud is performed by the excellent American actor Gene Gillette and in the second play entitled "Bone" the role of Antonin Artaud is performed by the popular Greek actor Gerasimos Gennatas while with him on stage is the great Greek musician-performer George Palamiotis.
The performances are presented under the direction of the preeminent Greek director Ioli Andreadi and have already received important awards and rave reviews, as they were presented this season in the most historic theatre in Greece, the “Art Theatre Karolos Koun”:
- “Best Actor 2022” according to the editors’ choices of “Athens Voice” Magazine (Bone) - “One of the Best Shows of the year” according to the editors of “247news Magazine” (Artaud/Van Gogh) - “One of the Best Actors of the year” in “Athinorama Magazine’s Readers Awards” (Bone) - “One of Best Shows of the year” in “Athens Voice Magazine's Readers Awards” (The Artaud Diptych)
The biggest surprise of the season. Gillette becomes Artaud himself. A performance on how an actor can incarnate such a turbulent personality and touch perfection | Georgia Oikonomou - News247
The charismatic actor Gene Gillette has not simply stepped into the skin of the role, but has studied in depth the personality he is portraying. As a sensitive seismograph, he captures his enduring emotional and psychological mutations, his twitches, his wandering in the void, between wisdom and rational contradiction. Two burning eyes and a burning body reveal a Truth that has come from the deep darkness of existence and isolation. In Gillette's hands, Artaud transforms into those biblical prophets who, with their fiery speech, alone on top of a mountain, blast the crowds. Andreadi succeeds in finding the ideal teammate in this multi-year effort to portray Artaud and creates a stripped-down spectacle, where the actor is the absolute protagonist. | Giorgos Mitropoulos - Euronews
It's impressive how Gillette stunts -even literally in some scenes of the show- between the insanity of madness and the hero's moments of clarity. He is giving a lesson on what is called "all in good measure" in acting and how this is the key to any great performance. The direction of Ioli Andreadi makes the best use of the great actor, investing in his directness, which perfectly fits the condition of speech. | Giota Dimitriadi
The great American actor Gene Gillette enchants us with his performance with a disarming simplicity, without using any outbursts and any acting clichés. We were hanging on his lips, feeling like we saw Artaud himself. We felt the pain, the injustice he suffered, we felt the rage and the desire to expose the hypocrisy of society. Don't miss this theatrical experience. | Vivian Mitsakou - theaterproject365
Bone is deeply moving because of its strength and directness; it is a punch in the gut. Maria Kriou ~ Athinorama
We saw Bone, the performance that sticks the tongue out to contemporary propriety. | Georgia Oikonomou ~ news247
Andreadi is communicating directly with Artaud, leading the performance ritualistically in terms of a shamanic ritual, away from bourgeois aesthetic and perception. | Kostas Zisis ~ Documento
This work manages to not only present the great Artaud but also to do justice to him. | Gregory Ioannides
Efsyn Bone is a prophetic elegy about the ostensibility that will – at some point soon – conquer the world. | Kostas Koulis ~ Noizy
A show-hymn to the genius of Antonin Artaud performed by the luminous actor Gerasimos Gennatas. | Vasilis Kokonis ~ Free Sunday
A theatrical miracle. |George Douatzis ~ fractal
Extraordinary direction. Inconceivable acting. Amazing text! Bravo, bravo, bravo. | Chrysa Kokkinou ~ theatro.gr
A show that manages to turn the theoretical conception of Artaud about a theatre that heals the audience into practice. | Smaro Kotsia ~ theatrikaprogrammata.gr
Cast
Artaud / Van Gogh Antonin Artaud: Gene Gillette
Bone Antonin Artaud: Gerasimos Gennatas
Live Music Performance by George Palamiotis
Crew
Direction: Ioli Andreadi
Original Plays: Ioli Andreadi & Aris Asproulis
Translation in English: Ioli Andreadi
Set Design: Dimitra Liakoura
Lighting Design: Sakis Birbilis
Original music: George Palamiotis (Bone) & Erato Kremmida (Artaud / Van Gogh)
Costumes Design: Kostantinos Kaspiris (Bone) & Dimitra Liakoura (Artaud / Van Gogh) Photographer: Kiki Papadopoulou
Video Trailer: Michael Mavromoustakos
Production Manager: Orestis Tatsis
With the kind sponsorship of The George & Victoria Karelias Foundation
With the kind support of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation The Michael Cacoyannis Foundation Under the auspices of The Consulate General of Greece in New York
Partners: REON non-profit artistic company, The Art Theatre Karolos Koun
THE ARTAUD DIPTYCH is published by Kapa Publishing House in a bilingual Greek/English edition
MEET THE TEAM
*Please note that this performance will be presented at the Tank's in-person performance space at 312 W 36th St. All attendees and artists will be required to display proof of two doses of an approved covid vaccination before being admitted to the space. Patrons will also be required to wear masks, when not eating or drinking.