Anastasia Papastathis is confronted with « Vampires » at the Rada Theater

Anastasia Papastathis is confronted with « Vampires » at the Radar Theater

Henrik Ipsen's masterpiece « vampires » goes up to the Radar Theater in Anastasia Papastathi's direction-direction every Friday to Sunday. Actors Nikos Anastassopoulos, Marilena Liakopoulou, Anastasia Papastathi, Theodoris Skourtas and Nektarios Farmakis.

The work written in 1881 was a cry against the hypocrisy and corruption of society. He encountered many reactions from his first climb to the theater, about his boldness and the way he affected the confinement and petty perceptions of society and the Church. But it has managed to impose and be considered today one of the most important works of world drama.

His story is placed around a woman, Elena Alving, who is organizing a great celebration to honor her dying husband, to preserve the good image of Captain Alvink to her son Oswalt and society. He believes that this will cover the secrets of the family and close the accounts with the dark past.

But developments and events go beyond it. Soon she will be confronted with herself and her choices. No matter how much he tried to protect Oswald's son and keep him away from the devastating influence of the father, he was impossible. Even when she first rebelled and knocked on the door of Pastor Maders to seek help, he sent her back to his duty, at her legal husband's home.

The faces of the work desperately claim the light and joy of life, having to fight with rusty ideas, with old perceptions, with their experiences, with the legacy of their parents. With all that Ipsen calls vampires that are deeply rooted within us, they come to life and dominate us.

On the occasion of the show, Anastasia Papastathi spoke to the « News ».

How did the idea for the show come about?

The projects I upload are related to the research I do every time. Ipsen's « vampires » are a project that enabled me to research not only the relationships within the family, with which I have been dealing with the family with society in recent years. It deepen the dark side of human nature and the social conventions that trap us. It came as an evolutionary continuity in the Radar repertoire.

How did you approach Ipsen's work directed?

My reference point is the text. I give great importance to how the meanings of the work will reach the viewer through the discourse with purity without interventions that are embarrassed. In this particular work I was interested in highlighting the timelessness of his issues and creating a connection with today's audience. I focused mainly on the psychological development of the characters and their inner struggle. I chose a stage landscape that highlights this conflict, captures the psychological world of heroes and at the same time allows the viewer to enter this world by recognizing pieces of his own life.

How does the text talk with today's reality?

It illuminates issues that remain crucial in modern times such as hypocrisy, corruption, the right to man's self -determination, gender equality, the need for social acceptance, the traumas of the past and the stereotypes that are inherited … The text offers rich material to raise questions, reality.

For Ipsen, vampires are all that we hide within us that come to life and dominate us. What are you for you?

Vampires are our fears. It is the truths we avoid dealing with, either on a personal or social level. Many times we prefer to stay in a safe but empty reality rather than to face the risk of a true life. These vampires are hidden in the dark corners of our existence and do not cease to exist because we ignore them, instead strengthen, reappear and ultimately determine our choices without realizing it.

Do you think that the « good name » in society, when fake, can be maintained or will the time come to light?

I believe that the truth, sooner or later, always finds a way to come to light. The « good name » built in lies and hypocrisy has an expiration date. Every attempt to bury the truth leads us to a greater conflict with ourselves. Ipsen clearly records it in his work. Only when we face our darkness can we really move on.

Pastor's reaction to Elena's revolution, sending her back to all those she was trying to escape, is a practice that we see perpetuated against women so far?

The pastor represents a worldview that expresses the conservative view of the Church, but society is not far from this view. Although important steps have been taken for the position of women and the gender equality we still see women stigmatized when they escape traditional norms. In our time a woman may have more options and rights but she still treats the same issues as older generations. The restrictive perception that the position of the woman is to be submissive and dependent on her husband still occupies space in modern society. The pastor is the symbolism of all the mechanisms that seek to maintain stereotypes, and Elena represents every woman who struggles to be liberated from these bonds.