Myth – Memory – Method: Terzopoulos’ Journey into the Nightmare of History

Authors

  • Savvas Stroumpos Attis Theatre | Zero Point Theatre, Greece Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37130/tcz69167

Keywords:

Terzopoulos, tragedy, myth, memory, method, performer, bodymind tempo-rhythm, laboratory

Abstract

Memory and Method constitute the three fundamental elements of Terzopoulos’ work on Ancient Greek Tragedy. In the following text we will explore the inner world of these elements and the way they formulate the theatrical universe of Terzopoulos, while, at the same time, how they transmit inspiration and knowledge to artists of younger generations so as to pave their own way into the adventurous territory of theatrical creation.

Author Biography

  • Savvas Stroumpos, Attis Theatre | Zero Point Theatre, Greece

    Savvas Stroumpos graduated from the drama school of the National Theatre of Greece (2002) and has an MA with Merit from the Department of Theatre Practice, University of Exeter, UK, where he studied with Phillip Zarrilli as the main instructor (2003). Since 2003 he has been collaborating permanently with Attis Theatre and Theodoros Terzopoulos as an actor and associate director. He is the main instructor of Terzopoulos’ Method “The Return of Dionysus”.

    As an actor of Attis Theatre, he participated in the following performances: Boris Pasternak Hamlet: A Lesson (2003), Aeschylus Prometheus Bound (2003), Aeschylus Epigone (2004), Samuel Beckett Ohio Impromptu (2004), Ajax – the madness (2004), Costas Logaras The Last Mask (2006), Aeschylus The Persians (2006), Marios Pontikas Cassandra (2007), Ajax – the madness (2nd version; 2008), Aeschylus Prometheus Bound (2010), Euripides The Trojan Women (2018), Aeschylus Oresteia (2024).

    With Zero Point Theatre he has directed: Franz Kafka In the Penal Colony (2009), W. Shakespeare As You like It (2010), Albert Camus The Justs (2011), Franz Kafka Metamorphosis (2012), Georg Buchner Woyzeck (2013), Franz Kafka In the Penal Colony (2nd version; 2014), Yevgeny Zamiatin We (2015), Heiner Muller The Mission: A Memory of a Revolution (2016), Dimitris Dimitriadis Troas (2017), Gyorgy Kurtag Kafka Fragments (2018), Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot (2018), Sophokles Antigone (2019), Samuel Beckett Happy Days (2020), Franz Kafka Report to an Academy (2021), Aeschylus The Persians (2022), Samuel Beckett Not I (2023), Anton Chekhov The Seagull (2023), Jean Genet The Maids (2025).

References

Artaud, A. (1938/1944) Le Théâtre et son Double. Gallimard.

Arvaniti, K. (2021) “The three Productions of Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound directed by Theodoros Terzopoulos” in Terzopoulos Tribute Delphi, Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 218-226.

Decreus, F. (2019) “Bodies. Back from Exile” in Dionysus in Exile: The Theatre of Theodoros Terzopoulos, Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 62-79.

Dreyer, M. (2019) “Deep Bodies Light. Theodoros Terzopoulos’ Vertical Choreographies” in Dionysus in Exile: The Theatre of Theodoros Terzopoulos, Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 33-45.

Fischer-Lichte, E. (2019) “Preface” in Dionysus in Exile: The Theatre of Theodoros Terzopoulos, Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 9-15.

Jarema, G. (2019) “Dionysus in Revenge. The Fractured Voice in the Theatre of Terzopoulos” in Dionysus in Exile: The Theatre of Theodoros Terzopoulos, Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 140-149.

Karaboğa, K. (2019) “Transcending the Borders through Tragedy: Terzopoulos in Turkey” in Dionysus in Exile: The Theatre of Theodoros Terzopoulos, Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 152- 159.

Raddatz, F. M. (2006) Reise mit Dionysos: das Theater des Theodoros Terzopoulos. Berlin: Theater der Zeit.

Sampatakakis, G. (2019) “The Theatre of Theodoros Terzopoulos. Aesthetics and Ideology” in Dionysus in Exile: The Theatre of Theodoros Terzopoulos, Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 18-30.

Sidiropoulou, A. (2021) “Towards a Poetic of Communality: Theodoros Terzopoulos’ Staging of Tragedy in the 21st Century” in Terzopoulos Tribute Delphi, Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 210-217.

Stroumpos, S. (2019) “Bodies in Revolt. The Art of Performer’s Psychophysical Transgression in Terzopoulos’ theatre” in Dionysus in Exile: The Theatre of Theodoros Terzopoulos, Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 95-104.

Stroumpos, S. (2021) “Corporal reflections on the method of Theodoros Terzopoulos – The question of the method” in Terzopoulos Tribute Delphi, Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 77-80.

Terzopoulos, T. (2000) Theodoros Terzopoulos and Attis Theatre. History, Methodology and Comments (Theodoros Terzopoulos kia Theatro Attiis: Anadromi, Methodos, Sxolia), Athens: Agra.

Terzopoulos, T. (2003) “Directing 17 Directors” (“Skinothetondas 17 Skinothetes”), Terzopoylos’ interviewed by Afroditi Grammeli, To Vima, 5.10.2003.

Terzopoulos, T. (2006) “The Metaphysics of the Body. Theodoros Terzopoulos in Conversation with Frank M. Raddatz” in Journey with Dionysos. The Theatre of Theodoros Terzopoulos. Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 136-175.

Terzopoulos, T. (2020) The Return of Dionysos. Translation by Savvas Stroumpos, Preface: Erika Fischer-Lichte. Berlin: Theater der Zeit, Harald Müller.

András, K. (2023) “The Return of Dionysus, András Kozma`s Interview with Theodoros Terzopoulos,” Urania Interdisciplinary Academic Journal, Vol.2 Nr.1/2022 [Online]. Available at: https://urania.szfe.hu/2023/03/the-return-of-dionysus/?lang=en (Accessed 19 April 2023).

Arvaniti, K. (2023) «The “Other” Persians of Theodoros Terzopoulos», Concept 2(27), pp. 42-54. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37130/d6g6ta53. Available at: https://concept.unatcpress.ro/index.php/cpt/article/view/173; Accessed at: 10 May 2025.

Dimadi, I. (2006) “We Saw the Persians in Constantinople” (“Eidame tous Perses stin Konstantinoupoli”), Athinorama, 27 June 2006 [Online]. Available at: http://www.athinorama.gr/theatre/2784/festibal_epidaurou/ (Accessed 3 April 2023).

Terzopoulos, T. (2023). “Myth and Innovation Road”. Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği Ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi / Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy, 0(36), pp. 107–110. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.2023001; Available at: https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/7C1420F768C64EE48789784C1187BEA5 (Accessed at: 6 May 2024).

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Published

2025-09-30

Issue

Vol. 30 No. 1 (2025): The Theatre, Film and New Media Festival Today. Specifics. Role Models. Challenges. Perspectives / A Dialogue Across Centuries: Greek Theatre Then and Now / Film and Theatre Pedagogy

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Stroumpos, S. (2025). Myth – Memory – Method: Terzopoulos’ Journey into the Nightmare of History. CONCEPT, 30(1), 165-179. https://doi.org/10.37130/tcz69167