MADRE SALONICO

Description

Who still speaks “Ladino”, the mother tongue of the Thessaloniki Jews? Who still sings Sephardic songs? The music theatre production Madre Salonico, written by the distinguished author Leon A. Nar, brought to the GNO Alternative Stage a work presented in a language on the brink of extinction, along with songs from Jewish communities in the Mediterranean, intending to bridge the present with the past as a gesture of memory.

The work, using a blend of “Ladino” (the Spanish-Hebrew language of Sephardic communities) and Greek, was showcased at the GNO Alternative Stage, through the eyes of the experienced director Victor Arditti. Martha Mavroidi adapted the Sephardic songs and created the original score, while the musical ensemble Smari performed them alongside Fotis Siotas. The cast features Eleni Ouzounidou and Leonardos Batis.

Madre Salonico: The ultimate refuge of Thessaloniki’s Sephardic culture

The new production of the GNO Alternative Stage, Madre Salonico, delves into a theme that has extensively preoccupied prose literature and cinema but remains unaddressed by domestic theatre. This piece, a means for collective self-awareness and reflection on the traumatic events of Soa, transcends the limitations of historiography, transforms into an artistic testimony, and approaches the trauma, creating a fertile ground for understanding and assimilating the historical past.

“What is the homeland of the Sephardic people?" Τhat’s what the protagonist, Ido Mordoch, a resident of New York, a third-generation Sephardic man, and grandson of the famous Zana, is wondering about. The work measures itself against the challenge of a language that is on the verge of extinction, a language that not only served as a means of communication but also embodied the very expression of the Sephardic people’s identity, their collective soul, and their history. Some of the Sephardic songs sung by Zana during the performance (such as “Misirlou” and “Pou na vro gyneka na sou miazi”) are already widely known among the audience from their Greek versions.

The protagonists of Madre Salonico search for their lost origins while striving to trace the thread connecting the past to the present through language and singing. Understanding and interpreting Thessaloniki's traumatic past by reinscribing historical sources and testimonies into an artistic framework enhances their connection to the present.

Leon A. Nar, who has penned the text of the performance, notes: “The work will give audiences the chance to follow Zana’s footsteps and – why not – identify with her. This is because she embodies not only the identity of an immigrant and victim of contemporary racism but also that of success, glory, and the unfulfilled. In theatre, of course, there’s also devising; fiction is ultimately creation. Is it really impossible for a work of fiction to be examined through rational thought and experiential science? The answer is not obvious, yet we must agree that no play and no literary work, no matter how “devised” they may be, can be developed in a historical void. Devising itself moves within a historical context”.

The production “MADRE SALONICO” is part of the GNO Alternative Stage’s unit of programming titled “MUSIC THEATRE DAYS”, which falls under the ACT “FESTIVAL EVENTS OF THE GNO ALTERNATIVE STAGE 2024-2025” » (MIS 6002467) with code 2024ΕΠ08570049 (Priority: “Fostering regional social cohesion through the enhancement of mechanisms and infrastructure to support employment, education, health care and socioeconomic inclusion” of the programme “Attica 2021-2027) and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and National Resources.

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The funding body of the project is the Ministry of Culture, within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0" with funding from the European Union - NextGeneration EU.

Recorded in Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC on 5 and 6 April 2025.

Trailer

At a glance – Synopsis

The central characters of the work are Ido, a third-generation immigrant living in New York, and Zana, his grandmother and a once-famous singer. The two of them share experiences, memories, and concerns, focusing on the historical journey of the Thessaloniki Jews, which is intertwined with the city’s collective memory. Grandmother and grandson reminisce; Zana reflects on her successful career as a singer, performing Sephardic songs on stage while searching for her childhood love who survived the Nazi concentration camps.

Creative team – Cast

Text: Leon A. Nar
Stage direction: Victor Arditti
Adaptation of Sephardic songs, original music: Martha Mavroidi
Sets & costume designer: Maria Panourgia
Lighting: Melina Mascha
Video: Marios Gampierakis

Zana: Eleni Ouzounidou
Ido: Leonardos Batis

Smari Musical Ensemble
Harris Lamprakis (ney)
Nikos Paraoulakis (ney)
Stratis Psaradellis (Constantopolitan lyre)
Martha Mavroidi (lavta, singing)
Yorgos Tamiolakis (violoncello)
Giorgos Ventouris (double bass)

Also featuring Fotis Siotas (violin, voice)

Director's note

The stage can become the last refuge of a vanished culture, the Sephardic culture of Thessaloniki and the whole Mediterranean basin with its songs, languages, and customs – the memory of a difficult yet bygone and joyful symbiosis of religions and cultures before the Catastrophe. The never-ending condition of being a refugee, the refusal to rest assured in oblivion, and love. In this piece, the past and the present co-exist, highlighting worries about an emotional disconnection that could impact future generations, alongside an ultimate need to cope with the memory of those who are no longer present