Prometheus, Image One (2016)

conceived, visualised and directed by Stephanos Droussiotis

Prometheus, Image One — a stage composition inspired by the myth of Prometheus. For one male performer, a boulder of ice, a lighting fixture and other small objects. Without spoken text.

The work Prometheus, Image One is a scenic dialogue between a male performer and a lighting fixture on a bare theatre stage. The arrival of light forces the performer into a dialogue both with the luminous source and with the material itself and its properties. Light, a decisive element in the attempt to understand existence, inherently persists in revealing every shadow. Man confronts the luminous matter, trying to comprehend it, find a way to exist within it, understand its function, make it fertile, and ultimately subjugate it in order to become godlike.

This silent, dramatic figure, recipient of the Promethean gift, becomes initially prey to his survival instincts just before and immediately after the delivery of fire, and later to his higher cognitive functions as he struggles to emerge unscathed from this violent confrontation with light. Man now acquires a shadow and is driven into a confrontation with himself, risking becoming a tormentor in his attempt to assert mastery.

Prometheus, Image One reveals from the outset all its materials on stage—required objects, tools, mechanisms, and technological means—for the realization of the action. Like a torture chamber, it seeks to hide nothing; on the contrary, it meticulously arranges before the performer the tools from which the drama is constructed. Likewise, the work avoids pre-recorded music and seeks to draw the materials needed for its sonic composition by transforming the natural sounds of the live stage action.

the work was presented at:

  • 4th Mikro Ancient Drama Festival - Rialto Theatre (Limassol, Cyprus)

  • Theatro Dentro (Nicosia, Cyprus)

“The Titanomachy ends with Zeus’ victory over the other gods. The consolidation of power by the new ruler of the world requires the enforcement of the new Law. Prometheus, opposing Zeus’ plans to destroy humanity and replace it with a superior human species, steals fire from the father of the gods and gives it to humans. The terrible punishment for this rebellion, carried out by the State and Force, will end only with his liberation by Heracles, son of his oppressor, and his reconciliation with Zeus.

The third figure of the mythic material, Man, experiences neither immediate redemption nor dreadful punishment. From the moment he receives the divine gift of the fiery light, his life on Earth becomes a struggle to understand how he should inhabit and define the boundaries of the space in which he finds himself”.

— Simos Zenios, dramaturg

Conceived, Visualized and Directed by
Stephanos Droussiotis

Performed by
Prokopis Agathokleous

Original Music - sound design
Giorgos Poulios

Lighitng Design
Evina Vassilakopoulou

Dramaturgy
Simos Zenios

Assistant Director
Evita Ioannou 

Duration: 35min

photos by Pavlos Vryonides

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