Statements of Giannis Vouros from Today’s Press Conference
“ You can’t change a winning team”... Those were the words with which the Artistic Director of the NTNG, Giannis Vouros, sealed the artistic season that is left behind, outlining the new one with a powerful repertoire.
Giannis Vouros, analyzing the annual report of the NTNG spoke of the great opening up of the four objectives that were set from the beginning, in other words the extroversion, the upgrading of the repertoire, the enhancement of the infrastructure and the improvement of the improvement of the theatre’s figures.
“ As you know, the National Theatre is superintented and funded by the Ministry of Culture. While its ‘superintendence’ is definite, allow me to put the word ‘funded’ in quotes, as the delays become a drawback for the NTNG. Whatever is achieved this year is achieved due to the united front that is created by the direction, the chairperson and the administrative board. The personnel (the technicians, the administration and the artists) show great selflessness. I believe that this solid team is the one that served our goals, to the greatest extend. This team is our allowance.”
Artistic Director of the NTNG, Giannis Vouros
Regarding the upgrading of the venues of NTNG, Mr. Vouros accentuated the work of the President of the Board of Directors, Meni Lysaridou, saying that “ the enhancement of the infrastructure was one of the first objectives set by the President, who is attentively absorbed by looking for funding, but also for people that can attend this upgrade, which refers to the Earth Theatre (Theatro Gis), the Forest Theatre (Theatro Dassous), and to whatever relates to the Royal (Vassiliko) Theatre, the Theatre of the Society for Macedonian Studies, and the Lazaristes Monastery.”
The Artistic Director, announcing the programming for the summer period, emphasized the fact that this summer, the National Theatre of Northern Greece will remain active.
“ I’m deeply moved by the initiative that the PLC actors’ committee took, in order to continue working during the summer. The reason I stress this is because it is extremely enticing for me, in these difficult times, to see our colleagues coming to us and saying that they don’t want to stay idle and get paid according to the contract, but they also want to offer in this new chapter of the NTNG.”
In his closing remarks on the presentation of the theatrical happenings and the coming artistic programming, Mr. Vouros repeated the motto he used in the first press conference he gave, saying “one for all, all for one. " This was the motto of the Three Musketeers, and it remaind the most suitable motto for the Greek society, and of course to the National Theatre of Northern Greece.”
During the presentation of the summer productions of 2014, the directors stated the following:
The director of the play The Persians, Niketi Kontouri, said the following regarding the big summer production: “ It is a play that has a tremendous vibe in favour of the Greek psyche, the energy and self-sacrifice of the Greeks, the conviction that they are neither slaves nor anybody’s subjects, it is a play that gives us the chills all the time. The chorus in the The Persians is the lead character, from all the protagonists. And that’s because it bears the greatest responsibility for coping with the grief of a people that thought they were the chosen ones, but ended up decimated, with no youth, no continuity, which is a punishment that didn’t give a lesson to the Persians in the tragedy or to the Greeks of the time, or the people in the light of eternity.”
Giannis Tsiakmakis, Yorgos Kiourtsidis, Giannis Vouros, Niketi Kontouri, Asteris Peltekis, Vassilis Issopoulos, Haris Pehlivanidis
Yorgos Kiourtsidis, the director of the performance Godspell highlighted: “ We made a brave adaptation of the text, we kept the music and lyrics, we insisted on its social character, which we tried to relate with the contemporary era, with the crisis of values we experience, xenophobia and racism that ague us. Additionally, we transfused energy and summer joy into it, as the songs are great!”
Asteris Peltekis, who directs the performance UP-ΟΛΑ stated that he feels happy that his artistic anxiousness has the full support of the NTNG, and he spoke of an interactive music-theatre-dance performance that aspires to be staged before the eyes of the audience and lead the crowd in a “ wonderful feast!”
Vassilis Issopoulos, the director of the play Twelve stressed that through the play’s plot, where twelve people are called to sit and decide unanimously for the innocence or guilt of a child, the relationships of people and the people themselves are revealed: the secrets well hidden within, the way in which they change when they are given an axiom, and the seriousness in which they judge human life when they have to decide about it.
Haris Pehlivanidis, who directed the performance The other side that was already staged at the Old Railway Station described directing at the NTNG as an “ immence experience.”
In the end, Giannis Tsiakmakis, the director of the play At the parks – Children have fun! primarily spoke as a member of the PLC of the NTNG actors, and highlighted that the need of his workmates to create was the one that led to the PLC’s proposal to the artistic director. After mentioning how this specific performance was born, he thanked all employees of the theatre for the collective effort, using the distinguishing phrase “ we are all part of a movement that keeps moving in the summer.”
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