stefano boeri constructs ‘dead forest’ scenography for ancient greek theater

stefano boeri architetti repurposes a collection of dead trees to create the scenography for an ancient greek theater in italy. the installation, which has been given the name ‘dead forest’, uses over 100 logs which were collected from the italian alps following a terrible storm in late-2018.

images courtesy of stefano boeri architetti

‘when I have been asked by antonio calbi to imagine a stage project for the trojan women of euripides at the theater of siracusa, I thought from the very beginning to portray a landscape more than a stage scenography‘, stefano boeri explains.

boeri imagined the timber in a well-ordered formation, occupying the ancient ruins of the theater: ‘we decided to give to those dead plants the last possibility to be present, erect, and still noble within the classical geometry of the teatro greco’s stage.‘

the mis-en-scene functions as the backdrop for a greek tragedy, ‘the trojan women’, which will be performed there later this month (may 2019). the story follows the fates of women in troy after the city has been sacked, their husbands killed, and their remaining family about to be taken away as slaves.

the play’s director muriel mayette-holtz draws a parallel between the trojan women and other more contemporary issues: ‘[the trojan women] are among us as the refugees escaping the destruction and disaster in their homelands in search of a better luck overseas, they are the victims of the terroristic attacks, confused and disoriented, but they are also millions of fir trees and spruces smashed down by the vaia storm.’

the timber was sourced from the carnic prealps, a range of the southern limestone alps in north-eastern italy. it was collected following the vaia storm which hit local regions on october 29, 2018, causing considerable damage to italian forests and leading many to believe it to be a symptom of climate change.

‘the nature brought to the scene is not flourishing or picturesque, it’s the devastated and devastating power of nature [which is] debuted on the ancient stage. the message of the tragedy is clear: any war is destructive, useless, and there’s never a winner, no matter what either side of the battle believe’, boeri explains.

the collaboration reflects this belief whilst connecting events set 2000 years apart, two regions separated by 1500 km, and above all between humans and nature.