LEMON

L E M O N at P L Y F A

8 years of journeys in 8 + 1 performances!

*The performance is presented with English surtitles

In 2018, Lemon began its journey by stepping off the theatrical ship of Athens out of a need to be in every corner of Greece to offer a cultural opportunity to residents of decentralized areas.

After 8 years of original performances between land and sea, the incredible story of the virtuoso pianist 1900 -who never got off the ship on which he was born- anchors for 8 + 1 unique performances at PLYFA.

25,000 spectators, 184 performances in remote areas of Greece, countless meetings with people-spectators who never left their home. The independent and handmade artistic production of Lemon continues to connect the points of our collective map broadening the boundary between theatre and real life. Proposing an active theatre, with a social footprint and political prothesis.

“theatre exists where spectators exist”

Lemon returns to Athens after 42 consecutive sold-out performances at the abandoned Bageion hotel during the 2019-2020 season, where the performance travelled by word of mouth.

The raw and atmospheric industrial space of PLYFA in Votanikos will be the ideal setting both for the story of the greatest pianist of the Ocean and for the story of Lemon’s journey.

“We played so the world wouldn’t feel the passage of time”

Conceived, artistically directed, site-adapted and produced by Melachrinos Velentzas and with the support of local communities, Lemon continues its research journey sometimes on land, sometimes at sea and sometimes somewhere in between: on board ships, in shipwrecks and anchored ships, on beaches and breakwaters as well as in village squares, on a lemon process factory, in abandoned places where a theatrical performance is presented for the first time.

The award-winning performance-experience thrills audiences wherever it is presented receiving excellent reviews. Energy that floods the stage, moves and excites in 70 torrential minutes of a deeply human story that brings to the surface the existential question:

“Where do you feel happy?”

The story of the pianist 1900, based on the original text by Italian writer Alessandro Baricco (translation: Stavros Papastavrou) and adapted-directed-choreographed by Georgia Tsagkaraki is brought to life on stage by the actor and pianist Melachrinos Velentzas in the role of 1900 and the actor Giorgos Drivas in the role of the trumpeter Tim Tooney.

Before the start of each performance, spectators can arrive earlier at PLYFA to travel through these 8 years through photos and videos that will be projected in the space. They will also have the opportunity to watch the performance without their mobile phone through the original action #theatroxwriskinto (theatre without a mobile).

The set of parallel actions aims at the activation of the senses with the goal of a pure collective performance experience, which will remind us of the ritualistic character of theatre.

On Saturday, February 28, after the end of the last performance, a live piano will follow with Melachrinos Velentzas taking us on a special night in the company of his piano and his personal narratives: stories full of memories from these 8 years.

Plot Summary

The play unfolds at the beginning of the previous century on the steamship Virginian, which is making the transatlantic journey from Europe to America. A newborn baby is abandoned by his immigrant parents inside a box of lemons on the grand piano, in the first-class ballroom. The sailor who finds him gives him his own name: Danny Boodman and along with it the nickname T.D. Lemon (from the box of lemons) adding 1900 (from the year he found him). Danny Boodman T.D. Lemon 1900 will become the greatest pianist of the Ocean. The trumpeter Tim Tooney -1900’s only friend- encourages the latter to step onto the land to experience another life.

Duration: 70 minutes (no intermission)
Suitable age: 4 to 104