Built in the foothills of Exomburgos, the highest mountain of Tinos and edited by visual artist Kostas Tsoklis, the outdoor stone amphitheater in Koumaros created the perfect setting for the musical performance of Chalepas in a natural setting of a peaceful, almost magical landscape. Directed by Argyros Chiotis, libretto by Alexandros Voulgaris (“The Boy”). The summer performance is part of the Extraversion program of the Onassis Foundation in collaboration with the Tinos Festival.

The tranquility of the space, the aura of the Tinian landscape, the evocative presence of the centuries-old trees surrounding the stage from the sides, created a theatrical universe in which not only their leaves, but also the emotions of the central acting person, a peculiar personality, floating, captivated by its psychopathology. The scenery of Efis Birba powerfully combined mental experiences, dream forms, as well as real life moments of Giannoulis Chalepas. A wooden hand-held device for reproducing the sound of the wind, known for its ferocity in the Cycladic island, the metal sheet and white canvas on which the sculptor sketched his works with charcoal acted as a prop that draws the viewer’s eye to the fore before it leaves a visual depth view of medieval village of Koumaros.

The project of composing a libretto with a dramatic narrative, the development of mental states and the creation of an eventual biographical genre is subject to many difficulties in terms of dramatic processing and the combination of real events with the emotional nuances of the characters. biographical. Compiling a mini-biography becomes even more difficult when the central figure they draw is the “Rodin of Greece” to borrow the characterization they attribute to Chalepas.

After the production of Dante’s The Divine Comedy (2017), the exploratory journey of the theater troupe of Argyros Chiotis continued through the marble village of Pyrgos, the birthplace of the sculptor, as well as through the surrounding villages, Panormos and Isternia, where he wandered and lived like a “madman”, pursued by his inner demons a charismatic artist.

Despite the play’s dramatic shortcomings, the production emphasized both Khalep’s dependent relationship with his mother and the existence of his two selves.

This methodological study also formed the basis of the stage composition in the form of a “musical tragedy” or “dream” about the life path of the Tinian sculptor. The truth is that Kioti lacks a specific identity as far as its dramaturgy is concerned. However, despite the play’s dramatic shortcomings, the production highlighted both Khalep’s dependent relationship with his mother and the existence of two selves in his life.

The directing burden also fell on the coordination of the actors’ movements and their orientation in the poetic libretto, for which the music of Jan Van Angelopoulos was of decisive importance. At various times, organized kinesiology ensembles skillfully performed the sculptures of Halepas, such as the famous “Sleeping Woman”, which he created for the tomb of the young Sophia Afentakis.

Ioti composes the sculptor’s diary based on evidence, without embellishing it with imaginary elements, despite the existence of a fairytale grid between then and now. It presents the two selves of Chalepas: the healthy one and the schizophrenic one.

Efthymis Teu (replacing Simos Kakala, who played the same role in Stegi) penetrated the mind of an artist who was upset by severe psychosis. He portrayed the sick self, trapped in auditory illusions, the introverted Halep, who sometimes speaks in the voices he hears, and sometimes sinks into isolation and silence. Theo was credited with the schizophrenic self, that is, the one who forced Giannoulis into attachment and dependence on his mother and a return to the caress of a mother’s embrace.

Antonis Miriagos explored the healthy self of Chalepas through verbal and physical courage, eloquence and overexpression. He served with absolute consistency the bipolarity of the schizoid state and interpreted the moments of remission of the disease, the retreat of delirium and an invitation to the creative and artistic side of life. A healthy Khalepa finally conquers the helplessness, submissiveness and self-destructive pathogenic nature of his own self. In a film that carries elements of the supernatural theatrical, after a dramatic discourse, experience, Hara Kotsali, Giorgos Nikopoulos, Dimitris Sotiriou, Argyro Chioti and Zorgina Chryskioti sensitively interpret the faces that accompany Giannoulis through the various stages of his life.