RMS MATAROA Group / There is an alternative

When a group of young artists chooses the name Mataroa as a frontispiece, then one immediately realizes that historical memory is more than a personal matter. For the RMS Mataroa Group it is also a case of a theatrical act or, as the director and head of the group Manos Vavadakis says, “in the gloomy reality we live in, collective memory and History give us the strength to fight for beauty in our lives and in our art ».

After the “Human Guards” by Pericles Korovesis, presented in 2019 also at the Art Theater, and as a continuation of the investigation of the more modern history of the place, RMS Mataroa focuses on the most emblematic event of the Junta. The occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising and the book of the same name by the historian Iason Chandrinos in this case gave the kick for the show “Tank/ All Night Here” which is presented every Monday and Tuesday at the Technis Theater, at 14 Phrynihou Street (to 2 April 2024).

“After the “Human Guards” of Korovesis, the question about the resistance of the Greek people in the seven-year period was left unanswered. When you find out how few acts of resistance there are and what prevails is silence and tolerance, the whole narrative of “tradition” that the Greek people have in resistance action collapses,” says Manos Vavadakis, who began his research on the show from in 2019. In addition, he gives the other dimension of things by underlining that “the Polytechnic, due to its extent and intensity as an event, also functioned in the Postcolonial period as Siloam’s swimming pool. Everyone was trying to prove, or at least say, that they were involved in some way.”

For Manos Vavadakis, a director of the younger generation, but “baked” in performances in which History and collective memory have a leading role, the specific attempt is clear. “What we seek, then, is to retell the story of the Polytechnic on stage as honestly as we can and to confront our viewers with the actions and attitude of them or their parents during the Junta period,” he says. After all, he belongs to the artists who, among others, understand Art as a political act.

Is personal political stance the only possible way of resistance even today? we ask him. “For me it is, the history of the Polytechnic proves this. If everyone does not take personal responsibility for asserting equal rights, the responsibility of respecting the constitution, the operation of Justice, things will never change, we will continue to hurt the Republic”.

The tank dominates the scene. “We chose to have the tank on stage as a counter-symbol of the Polytechnic which is completely weakened as the narratives of the actors flow, but also as a memory landmark for never again” explains the director and co-star of the show. At the same time, he focuses on the book of Jason Chandrinos as a “valuable guide to dramaturgy”, since the 84 testimonies recorded by the historian “constitute the reservoir for the narration of the events from all sides”. Thus, he and his two co-protagonists, Katerina Patsiani and Katerina Papandreou, “take turns in narrating the events in a linear fashion, insisting on the anonymity of the faces so that a crowd narrative emerges. “We”, that is, who created the Polytechnic”.

How did you learn about the Polytechnic, we ask him. “Through school holidays, which very often convey half-truths, which more or less happens with official anniversaries. After all, one of the biggest enemies of History is the establishment of the official State History, which shapes the collective memory. The Polytechnic is not the red carnations, it is not only the songs of Theodorakis, nor a general message about freedom that we used to hear at school holidays. Nor is it the old, incomplete and largely forged list of the dead they used to read to us. Fortunately, the historian Leonidas Kallibretakis has restored the historical truth about the dead” he emphasizes and insists meaningfully: “The Polytechnic for us is a beacon that reminds us, especially today, that there is always an alternative”.