In 1943, nearly 96% of Thessaloniki’s Jewish community—the largest in the Balkans—was exterminated in Nazi concentration camps. In the form of a lecture performance the piece talks about a dark and forgotten story that has left visible traces. Who resisted and who joined the violence? How were the mechanisms of memory suppression constructed and what is the role of a theatre? Why is this old story of interest to us now and how does it relate to our own future? Attempting an archaeology of the present, Prodromos Tsinikoris’ documentary theatre production searches for the traces of nearly 50 000 Jews, not only in studies, archives and testimonies, but also with on-site research in the city of today, in the streets, in the closed shops, in old and new buildings, even in the National Theatre of Northern Greece itself.
Prodromos Tsinikoris works as a director, dramaturge and performer in Athens. Born in 1981 in Wuppertal to Greek immigrant parents, he moved to Thessaloniki in 1999, where he completed his theatre studies. Together with Anestis Azas, he wrote and staged many documentary theatre performances, such as TELEMACHOS: SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?, CLEAN CITY (2016), HELLAS MÜNCHEN (2018), TRASHLAND (2022) and ROMALAND (2023) etc. Their / His works were presented in recent years at many international theatres and festivals, such as: Muenchner Kammerspiele, Heidelberger Stückemarkt, Theater der Welt, Chantiers d’Europe – Théâtre des Abbesses Paris, Maillon Strasbourg, Theaterspektakel Zürich, Festival Grec Barcelona, Teatros del canal Madrid, Maxim Gorki Berlin. As a dramaturge he has worked with Lola Arias, Yorgos Valais from the blitz theatre group, Encyclopedie de la parole and Paul Preciado, among others. He is co-curating the International Forest Festival at the State Theatre in Northern Greece in Thessaloniki since 2020.
In Greek with English and Bulgarian surtitles.
The guest-performance is supported by Goethe-Institut Bulgaria. It is realized under the project “Theatre Bridges in Southeast Europe”, funded by the program “Presentation to the Bulgarian audience of contemporary European productions from the CCI sector” through the National Culture Fund under the EU Recovery and Sustainability Mechanism.
