by Thomas Bernhard
by the Ch-aeretae Drama Group,
directed by Giannos Perlegas.

How interesting could it be for an opera diva to sing Mozart's 'Magic Flute' for the 222nd time? How long can she stand the discipline and tough rehearsals, as well as her repeated exposure to the judgement of the audience? In the end is the real essence of art sacrificed at the altar of an “art factory”? 'The Ignoramus and the Madman' – last year's great success at the Experimental Stage of the National Theatre, which was a hit this year when it was presented on the main stage of the Michael Cacoyiannis Foundation – is a grotesque comedy that discusses the inadequacy of commercialised art and science in relation to human needs.

Bernhard has his protagonist cancel her scheduled appearances and retire to the country with her blind father. However, he, a drunk and a miser, has placed all his life prospects on his daughter's career. With them, a medical examiner, passionate about human anatomy, but rather indifferent to human existence. Giannos Perlegas both plays the exhausting part of the medical examiner – what a feat to memorize the pathology descriptions – and directs the other three actors with mastery. It should be noted that Giorgos Depastas – a former medical examiner himself – has turned in a translation that doesn't “stumble” over the extensive medical references.

The play is set in 1792 and is in two acts and the action takes place in corresponding sets (the soprano's dressing room and the luxurious 'Three Hussars' restaurant), underlining the transformation of family relationships into exercises in manipulation. These motifs can be identified throughout the author's work. Bernhard transforms medicine into the science of decomposition and music into the art of de-personification and destruction. The great Austrian writer uses his grotesque and “choleric” humour in order to underline his heroes' existential angst. The result is a wild comedy about the tragedy of art, science and parental manipulation.
Giannos Perlegas insists on Bernhard – his previous performance was the successful 'Immanuel Kant'. In fact, his special relationship with this “bourgeois anarchist”, as he calls him, is due to the fact that it was his work that first brought him into contact with the theatre, specifically a performance of 'Ritter, Dene, Voss' by Lefteris Vogiatzes.

Performance contributors
Translation: Giorgos Depastas
Director: Giannos Perlegas
Set – Costume Designer: Loukia Chouliara
Movement: Dimitra Efthimiopoulou
Lighting: Nikos Vlasopoulos
Make-up design: Evi Zafiropoulou
Hair design: Chronis Tzimos
Video: Iasonas Arvanitakis
Assistant director: Magda Kafkoula
Vocal coach: Evangelia Karakatsanis
With: Anthi Efstratiadou (Queen of the Night), Giannis Kapeleris (Mrs. Fargo/  Winter the Waiter), Christos Malakis (Father), and Giannos Perlegas (Doctor)