Romáland

During the past year, the killings of two young Roma following a police pursuit occupied public opinion and mass media: Nikos Sampanis in Athens and Kostas Fragoulis in Thessaloniki. The two cases will soon be tried by the Greek justice system, and together they form two iconic events with Roma as victims, who, however, are not the only ones.

From the worker accident at the collapsed bridge in Patras to the eight-year-old Olga in Keratsini, who was trapped by a sliding factory gate and died helpless, monstrous incidents of violence and indifference reveal that the Roma lives in Greece are often treated as ‘lives not worth living.’* Concurrently and in direct contrast with the actual incidents of racial violence, the public imaginary is keen to see Roma people as blithesome entertainers, children of nature who live outside norms and rules. However, is there such a vast difference between Roma and ‘Gadjo/Baleme’? Specifically, if we go back a few generations, we will find many men and women—among them our grandmothers and grandfathers—who didn’t even finish primary school, were married against their will, sacrificed their desires to follow their father’s profession, and even lived as wandering nomads who based their survival on constant movement. Why is it then that the lives of Roma seem so distant to us?
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Following months of research from Zefyri and Aspropyrgos to Thessaloniki, Larissa, and Serres, the Romáland performance aspires to tell an inverted journey across Greece’s contemporary history through the perspective of Roma. Ascribing to the tradition of the documentary theater genre, the performance is shaped by the participation of Roma protagonists, who narrate their real stories live and aims to highlight the multiple social exclusions they face as well as their daily efforts to overcome them.

The directors Anestis Azas and Prodromos Tsinikoris return attempt to approach the lives of Greek Roma, looking back at facts, toy with stereotypes while evading romanticization.

*A phrase used by the Nazi regime to describe people it considered to have no ‘right to life.’

research, text, and direction Anestis Azas, Prodromos Tsinikoris
with Angeliki Evangelopoulou, Theodosia Georgopoulou, Avraam Goutzeloudis, Melpo Saini, Giorgos Vilanakis
directors' assistant Avraam Goutzeloudis
music Panagiotis Manouilidis
sound design Panagiotis Manouilidis, Orestes Patsinakidis
on-stage musician Yorgos Dousos
scientific consultant George Tsitiridis
video Oliwia Twardowska
set and costumes Dido Gkogkou
photos Andreas Simopoulos
light design Eliza Alexandropoulou
tour lighting design Dimitra Aloutzanidou
set & costume designer assistant Margarita Tzannetou
trainer performers Liana Taousiani
assistant in dramaturgy Michalis Pitidis
dramaturgy consultant Camille Louis
translation English surtitles Memi Katsoni
line production Zoe Mouschi, Rena Andreadaki
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Onassis STEGI Team
tours and international coproductions coordinator Christina Liata
tours and international coproductions assistant Polyxeni Sotirchou
tour technical manager Stavros Kariotoglou
set mechanics Spyros Pitsos, Nikos Papanikolopoulos
video technician Stratos Toganidis

Commissioned and produced by Onassis STEGI.

This performance is a co-production of Internationaal Theater Amsterdam.

The research for the performance was conducted with the help and support of the NGO “Klimaka” and the Confederation of Greek Roma “HELLAN PASSE”.

Brandhaarden is co-produced by Onassis STEGI’s Outward Turn Program.

This performance is supported by Ammodo