George Papageorgiou is perhaps one of the few representatives of his generation who first read the book Death in Venice by Thomas Mann and then saw the film by Luchino Visconti. Five years ago, he was introduced to the world of a German writer on a deserted beach that seemed to complement the novel he was reading. “It’s as if the atmosphere around me has merged with the atmosphere of the book,” he tells K during a break in rehearsals for the production of the play of the same name at the Poreia Theater, adapted by Stratis Paschalis.

What he remembers about that summer is still vivid: “The feeling of paper in my hands, the sound of water, the sand on my feet. It was here that I first thought about directing, and when I later saw Visconti’s masterpiece, I was sure that this would be my next attempt at directing.

It was not an easy task. Not only because of the myth it carries, but also because of its core, deeply philosophical and existential. “We are not used to approaching the issue of death as simply as T. Mann says in his book. The meeting of death and beauty,” says the director. “The show was made with feelings for feelings. The director’s line uses them all to create a powerful setting that gradually introduces the viewer to the dark journey that Gustav Aschenbach, the hero of the story, makes towards his death. I was touched by the way the story was told. As a plot, it’s pretty simple, you say it in three lines. But the author presents it deeply poetically. The hidden poetry underlying the work grabbed me like a noose around my neck.

From the very beginning, they agreed with Stratis Paschalis to arrange a poetic performance. The materials they used are also similar. Texts by Mallarmé, Rilke, Rimbaud, echoing the story of T. Mann. As a director, the speech of the actors, according to G. Papageorgiou, is worked out with detailed musical halftones.

Gustav Aschenbach is the central figure of the story. A successful middle-aged writer in a writer’s block goes on vacation to Venice and there, in a luxurious hotel where he rests, he is fascinated by the young Tazio, whom he obsessively follows through the tangled narrow streets of the city. This is not about carnal love, but about a philosophical, almost Platonic, convincing search for beauty. When a cholera pandemic breaks out in Venice, he stays at the risk of his life… “The story of death, the story of the pleasure of the end” – this is how Thomas Mann described the short story, written by him in 1912, a year after his own vacation. in Venice.

The roles are interpreted by Nikos Hatsopoulos, Giannis Leakos, Orestis Chalkias (since December 4, Dimitris Kitsos), Gregory Metenitis, Giannis Mastroiannis. However, the viewer does not see Tazio, personifying the beauty of Botticelli, on stage, except for the video recording of the performance, where Rafael Paraskevopoulos appears. “We chose the video to emphasize the two-dimensionality of the image, the angelic form. A fantasy that I wanted to capture through something that you can never capture.”

It touches me that, having woken up from a homosexual feeling, he wrote down the lust he experienced in order to exorcise it.

The death of Aschenbach (played by Nikos Hatzopoulos) at the end is by choice. “As his journey deepens towards his lust, he follows the line of atonement for death,” the director explains. Each reading of his text revealed different points. He says that for the first time, “I was impressed with the way sexual desire was captured. But every time I came back to the book, I found that there was something else behind it. The author used the story as a pretext. He survived a trip to Venice and met the young man he describes in his book at the Lido where he was vacationing. It touches me that, having aroused in him a homosexual feeling, he wrote down the lust that he lived in order to exorcise it.

The 41-year-old director and actor got acquainted one by one with the places described by Thomas Mann in his book and captured in the Visconti film of the same name. “I admired the beach, frolicked on the sand, rowed around the neighborhood, saw close up what the Venetian strait was. There is something in this place. Visconti said, “When you face Venice, it’s like staring death itself in the face.”

What does beauty mean in an era when we invest so much in it? “Beauty captured through smiling bright faces and various Instagram filters is not about me. Instead, I found beauty in works of art, natural landscapes, European cinema, people and ideas.”

What about his relationship with death? “I haven’t made up with him yet and I’m young enough to start a conversation from the end. If I could choose my death, I would do it like Aschenbach, looking at beauty, at the sea.

“Lysistratus”

At the end of the interview, I ask Giorgos Papageorgiou why his collaboration with THOK on Lysistrata in Epidaurus was cut short. “The structure in the form in which it was created did not allow me to do my job in the conditions that I would like. The details don’t matter. I will finally enjoy my summer holidays and concerts with my band.” Then he will have a winter collaboration with Giannis Hurvardas at the National Theater in King Lear.