The White Dwarf is a star which has used up all its power and dies silently, without exploding.

How would the atomic bomb be if it had the fate of a White Dwarf?

If, instead of wreaking havoc, it had remained locked in a room until it would become an exhibit in a museum of the future?

In the White Dwarf, Yolanda Markopoulou explores a fragment of the history of the birth of the first atomic bomb by the physicist Robert J. Oppenheimeinviting the audience in a VR performance installation. The research of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who is dubbed as the “father of the atomic bomb” meets the real story of Sadako Sasaki, a little girl, victim of the Hiroshima bombing. Scientific developments and space exploration are juxtaposed with the little girl’s pledge for peace in the aftermath of World War II. The explosion of the atomic bomb resembles that of the death of a star in a supernova explosion; though, instead of restoring the cosmic equilibrium, it causes irrevocable damage on Earth.

The audience is challenged to participate in a holistic experience that extends the virtual into the physical world and vice versa. One becomes part of a scientific experiment that will change humanity forever.

Directed by Yolanda Markopoulou

Performers: Eleana Kafkala, Ifigeneia Karamitrou, Nikos Kardonis, Chloe Livathinou, Thanos Tsakalidis

Screenplay: Yolanda Markopoulou, Markos Tsoumas

Director of Photography: Angelos Papadopoulos

Original Music / Sound Designer: Manolis Manousakis
3D Designer / Animation: Charis Laloussis
Production Designer & Creative Associate: Paris Mexis

Dramaturgy Consultant (Installation): Ioanna Valsamidou

Post Production Supervisor & Lighting Design (Installation): Michael Tebinka

Mix / Mastering: Konstantinos Stylianou

Technical Manager (Installation): Nikos Charalampidis

Production Manager: Vicky Strataki

Produced by POLYPLANITY Productions

With the financial support of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports