Maria Panourgia
The Legend of Saint Kartak and the Little Flower
Based on Joseph Roth’s The Legend of the Holy Drinker
How can a man be at once a drinker and a saint? In this, the last novella he finished before his death, his testament of sorts, writer Joseph Roth attempts to bring together two seemingly disparate worlds. One quickly realizes that both holiness and drunkenness are but fickle whims: they are both motivated by desire. Based on Roth’s novella and adapted for the stage by Efthymis Filippou, this performance is conceived as a fairy-tale. Stuck in a rut, the main character encounters a “miracle.” Front this point onwards, miracles will keep happening to support and heal him; nevertheless, he keeps returning to his heavy drinking, with almost ascetic perseverance. He is haunted by a sense of “merciful irony” until he finally comes across St. Thérèse, the so-called “little flower.” If every man becomes a saint by the end of his life, then the character's drunkenness and sad finale not only attest to his paradoxical holiness, but also serve as reminders that eternal life is linked to both holiness and its opposite. Four actors will portray the story’s ten characters. Five women will sing the “miracle” live on stage, in a manner suggestive of a hymn.
Related Events
Duration 90 minutes
Peiraios 260 (E)
- 27/06 until 28/06/2017 at 21:00
- 29/06/2017 at 23:00
all events
Opera | Cinema | Greek Music | Music | Theatre | grape | subset | Dance | Education | Αναβίωση | Διεθνής Συμπαραγωγή | Classical music | Performance | Contemporary music | Talks | Contemporary Ancients | Premiere | Greek Debut