Elias Adam

Elias Adam (b.1991, Greece) is a theatre director and writer.

He makes theatre to give shape to the vague, chase ghosts, argue with himself, flirt with angels and demons, cry in public and perhaps figure out what is going on. His work unfolds when personal drama meets political collapse. Leaking fragments of his personal life into his performances, he tries to talk about larger messes: disenchantment, unhappy loves, broken selves, fragmented memory, post-truth confusion, the glitch between reality and illusion, the exile of meaning and the mess of being alive right now.

Over the years his practice has taken many forms: re-imaginings of classics (GAMLET and EYOLFMACHINE), adaptations of literature (THE END OF EDDY), stream-of-consciousness breakdowns (ONLY GOD CAN CANCEL ME and TITANIC SONG BUT IT WAS COMPLETELY EDITED BY ME), a dance solo (SADBOI), a eulogy for his father (FATHER HELP US), a social media vaudeville (WE ARE IN THE ARMY NOW), desktop performances (HAMLET, A DESKTOP PERFORMANCE and IT’S OPHELIA, BITCH!) and a fake TV channel (KIVOTOS CHANNEL).

He collaborated with the National Theatre of Greece, Onassis Stegi, while also creating works in Germany and Cyprus. In 2019, he was a fellow at the International Forum of the Theatertreffen in Berlin. WE ARE IN THE ARMY NOW, produced by Onassis Stegi, premiered live at Teatros Del Canal in Madrid and was later invited to the Radikal Jung Festival 2022 at Müncher Volkstheater. His work SADBOI has been performed in more than ten countries.

Elias sees his work as a space of continuous becoming, always in motion, never fully finished. He likes to play with complexity, to hold back meaning and resolution, to build toward climaxes that never arrive. He’s inspired by literature, sociology, his friends, music videos, meme culture, cursed internet energy and the long journeys he takes with his mother to far off places; chasing something beautiful, weird or broken.