National Theatre of Northern Greece
2022-2023 Theatre Season
Back to the theatre
Theatre of the Society for Macedonian Studies
"Τhe Crazy Frogs” by Mélody Mourey
Directed by: Mélody Mourey
Οpening: 26 October 2022
A few words about the play
A talented young creator, Mélody Mourey, whose plays sell out in Paris and have earned her both nominations and wins at the Molière Awards, directs the Greek première of her play “The Crazy Frogs” (original title: “Les Crapauds fous”) at the NTNG.
Mélody Mourey writes and directs a wonderful tragi-comic play which takes a story that is true but unknown to the general public as its backdrop: an incredible trick two doctors played on the Nazis.
In 1990s New York City, a psychology student visits Stanislaw, an elderly doctor, so he can talk to her about her grandfather Eugene Lazowski (also a doctor) and his activities during World War Two. Stanislav will share an adventurous and fascinating story with her, describing the ingenious plan that he and Lazowski devised to outwit the Nazis and save the lives of thousands of Jewish residents in Rozwadów, a village in Poland.
The play is based on the true story of the two doctors who resisted the Nazis, using the typhoid vaccine as evidence that the region was infected with the deadly disease. “The Crazy Frogs” is an adventure-comedy that uses humour and sensitivity to highlight the strength of people who accept the risks and resist, daring to defend humanity and justice.
Although the author presents the tragic events in a light-hearted way, she nonetheless creates an original and daring work which poses an important question: at what point will people stop obeying authority, when that authority is absurd, and to what extent does each new era need its own “crazy frogs”?
Credits
Translated by: Giorgos Voudiklaris, Directed by: Mélody Mourey, Sets: Hélie Chomiac, Set and costume oversight: Danai Pana, Music: Simon Meuret, Artistic assistant - Choreographer: Nina Dipla, Lighting: Stelios Tzolopoulos, Assistant to the director: Alexis Tzimas, Production Coordinator: Eva Koumandraki
Cast: Antonis Antonakos, Stavroula Arampatzoglou, Korina Vasilopoulou, Alexandros Zouridakis, Stelios Kalaitzis, Thanos Kontogiorgis, Evi Koutalianou, Christina Konstantinidou, Vasilis Papadopoulos, Virginia Tamparopoulou, Thanos Feretzelis, Giannis Charisis
“Titans” by Euripides Laskaridis
Directed by: Euripides Laskaridis
Opening: 16 December 2022
A few words about the play
Before the world’s beginning, two solitary beings live between darkness and the light. “Titans” is a work by Euripides Laskaridis in honour of our every failed attempt to understand. There is a place where darkness meets the light.
“Erotokritos” by Vincenzo Kornaros
Directed by: Argyro Chioti
Οpening: 18 January 2023
A few words about the play
“Erotokritos” is a self-contained poetic universe of incredible richness and narrative power. The performance dives freely into its world, picking out sections that shine a light on timely issues relating to the limits of the individual will when it comes to transcending social norms. Retaining Kornaros’ exhilarating narrative, the production focuses on Aretousa, a woman who does not surrender herself passively to the “turnings of the cycle”, but asserts her right to self-determination with courage, passion and hope.
The performance employs a code familiar in contemporary theatre which emphasizes the power of narrative and, above all, of music: everything is born of and evolves through music, the music that is echoed constantly by the words and which is simultaneously a crucial medium for driving the plot. Music is the raw material of the performance, which draws on the musicality of speech and the human body to create a holistic embracing experience aimed, before all else, at the senses.
Credits
Concept - Direction: Argyro Chioti, Dramatourgy - Adaptation: Efthymis Theou, Set: Eva Manidaki, Costumes: Angelos Mentis, Fotismoi: Tasos Palaioroutas, Assistant to the director: Viki Kitsiou, Production Coordinator: Marily Ventouri
Cast: Chara Giota, Ioanna Demertzidou, Konstantinos Kapellidis, Aigli Katsiki, Anna Kopaka, Theodora Loukas, Ioannis Bastas, Panagiotis Papaioannou, Giannis Charisis, Konstantinos Cheilas
“Enemies” by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Directed by: Stathis Livathinos
Οpening: 10 March 2023
A few words about the play
In “Enemies, a love story” a man tries to get over his nightmare, the insurmountable trauma of the death camps he survived, by meeting the three most important women in his life in the search for romance, love and salvation.
Foyer of the Society for Macedonian Studies
“The Pillowman” by Martin McDonagh
Directed by: Mary Andreou
Οpening: 14 October 2022
Rating: Suitable for ages 16+
Duration: 120 minutes (no interval)
A few words about the play
Written in 2003 by Martin McDonagh, the enfant terrible of the British stage, “The Pillowman” is a riveting black comedy. In an unspecified totalitarian state, a writer and his mentally retarded brother are interrogated by two policemen when similarities come to light between the writer’s dark stories and a series of real-life child murders. A labyrinth of narratives in which illusion and reality, past and present, intersect to form a complex, fascinating and terrifying tale about life, art, politics, society, violence and creativity.
“The Pillowman” won the Olivier Award for Play of the Year, the New York Drama Critics Award, and two Tonys. It has been translated into more than ten languages.
Credits
Translation: Christina Bampou-Pagkoureli, Direction - Sets - Coctumes: Mary Andreou, Music: Giannis Tsemperlidis, Lighting: Stelios Tzolopulos, Video: Athina Sotiroglou, Evangelina Karyofilli, Assistant to the director - Movement: Evanthia Sofronidou, 2nd Assistant to the director: Nikos Tsoleridis, Production coordinator: Marily Ventouri
Cast: Spyros Sarafianos (Tupolski), Giannis Tsemperlidis (Katurian), Grigoris Papadopoulos (Ariel), Christos Stylianou (Michal)
“Prague” by Javier de Dios
Directed by: Themis Theocharoglou
Opening: 25 November 2022
Credits
Translation: Maria Chatziemmanouil, Direction - Adaptation - Dramaturgical processing: Themis Theocharoglou, Music: Spyros Paraskefakos, Assistant to the director: Sissy Theofilou, Production Coordinator: Filothei Eleftheriadou
Cast: Loukia Vasileiou (Suzanna), Christos Mastrogiannidis (Charis), Giannis Tomazos (Benny)
A few words about the play
“Prague”, a bold work which focuses on human relationships, their crystalline fragility but also their adamantine resilience, received its première in Madrid in 2013.
The playwright shines a light on contemporary social issues through a disagreement over the adoption of a child that puts the relationships of three friends under stress.
The heroes confront themselves, time and the constants in their lives, put the resilience of their relationships and their love to the test, try to understand the others, to drop their defences and defend the choices that will shape their future. Their language conveys truths, it hurts and wounds. How do the characters react to these truths? Do they defend themselves, escape, or dig in and renegotiate their lives and boundaries?
“Algorithm”
Conceived & Directed by: Alexandra Kazazou & Eleana Georgouli
Opening: 11 March 2023
A few words about the play
“Algorithm” is a journey into the anatomy of the major disasters and civil wars which humanity has experienced over the last century. The production invites the viewer to reflect on the workings of memory and forgetting through wanderings that prove unexpectedly surreal.
Guided by two women who find themselves trapped in an abandoned toy town after a major disaster, we embark on a descend into the unconscious and the collective trauma of War in an unexpectedly tender yet humorous examination of how the communicating vessels of memory and forgetting operate.
Credits
Conceived, Directed & Performed by: Alexandra Kazazou & Eleana Georgouli
Royal (Vasiliko) Theatre
“The Night of the Iguana” by Tennessee Williams
Directed by: Eleni Gkasouka
Opening: 28 Οctober 2022
Rating: Suitable for ages 16+
A few words about the play
In a far-flung part of Mexico, at the “Costa Verde” Hotel, the property of the widow Maxine Faulk, Shannon, a former priest who is now working as a tour guide, arrives with a group of women from the Quebec Religious College for Girls. Back in the US, Shannon had been accused of seducing underage girls and removed from his duties. A new incident of seduction, this time of a young member of the group, forces him to make a stop at the hotel to regroup: he needs to do everything he can to escape being exposed, pilloried and fired. A victim of his uncontrollable urges once again and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, he meets Hannah at the hotel, a painter who makes a living selling poems and paintings and is travelling with her grandfather, a well-known poet. As Maxine tries to persuade him to stay with her and take over her business, pushing him towards the pleasures of the flesh, Hannah, through her calm and mental serenity, helps him to face himself and overcome his personal deadlock.
“The Night of the Iguana”, one of Tennessee Williams’ three finest plays, returns to the NTNG stage in an excellent translation by Dimitris Dimitriadis, almost thirty years after Andreas Voutsinas directed its Thessaloniki première. The play, which was written in 1961, employs some of the playwright’s favourite motifs: despairing, fragile characters teetering on a knife edge between guilt and pleasure. Immersed in their loneliness, they seek comfort and understanding as they attempt to connect with others. Characters who are tested in an endless and ongoing struggle for acceptance and to reconcile themselves with their dark sides and their demons.
Credits
Translated by: Dimitris Dimitriadis, Directed by: Eleni Gkasouka, Sets & Costumes:
Konstantinos Zamanis, Music - Sound design: Thodoris Oikonomou, Lighting: Zoi Molyvda Fameli, First Assistant to the director: Angelos Kalfas, Second Assistant to the director:
Christos Ntaraktsis, Assistant to the Set-Costumes designer: Danai Pana, Production coordinator: Marleen Verschuuren
Cast: Kleio Danai Othonaiou (Maxine Faulk), Giorgos Kolovos (Reverend Shannon), Anni Tsolakidou (Hannah Jelkes), Kostas Santas (Jonathan Coffin), Giolanta Balaoura (Judith Fellowes), Iovi Fragkatou (Charlotte Goodall), Christos Ntaraktsis (Jake Latta, a traveller), Manolis Fountoulis (Hank, a traveller), Lefteris Dimiropoulos (Pedro), Nikos Tsoleridis (Pancho)
“If you want to break up… raise your hand” by Giorgos Kapoutzidis
Directed by: Giorgos Kapoutzidis
Opening: 10 December 2022
A few words about the play
Giorgos Kapoutzidis’ first play, which received rave reviews and was beloved by audiences from its very first performance, continues its successful run, highlighting, in singular fashion, the concerns and social issues that George Kapoutzidis knows so well how to address.
“If you want to break up... raise your hand!”
A love undeclared for twenty years.
A marriage being ripped apart by an infidelity.
And another that’s postponed indefinitely, though no one dares inform the groom.
An ex, a current partner, countless internet dates, and a house that’s slowly... flooding. Literally.
And before they sink for good, they have to tell the truth.
Everyone to everyone.
Credits
Directed by: Giorgos Kapoutzidis, Assistant director: Giannis Paraskevopoulos
Production coordinator: Eva Koumandraki
Cast: Eleftheria Angelitsa (Dimitra), Chrysa Toumanidou (Kiki), Marianna Pouregka (Natasa),
Nikos Kousoulis (Charis), Giorgos Papadakos (Michalis), Giannis Gkrezios (Iakovos), Efi Stamouli (Efi), Giannis Tsemperlidis (Plumber)
“The Holiday Trilogy” by Carlo Goldoni
Directed by: Giannis Skourletis
Opening: 21 January 2023
A few words about the play
Carlo Goldoni had the theatre meet the world somewhere else, somewhere different from where they’ d meet till then. Which marks the start of theatrical modernity. Life in “The Holiday Trilogy” is like a game of snakes and ladders: a struggle to climb high that ends in a fall, a Sisyphean torment repeated ad infinitum. Life puts up a struggle—desperately, hopelessly, joylessly, but ultimately ineffectively. There is only one road to salvation, and it lies in generating an illusion. Things aren’t going at all well, but we keep on playing the game of impressions. Holidaying is the only value that favours everything. Holidays render the unattainable attainable. They are a utopia. A comedy that will never end.
Credits
Translated by: Giorgos Depastas, Directed by: Giannis Skourletis
Cast: Loukia Vasileiou, Sofia Kalemkeridou, Dimitris Kartokis, Giorgos Kafkas, Dimitris Kolovos, Anna Kyriakidou, Fampritsio Moutso, Vasilis Besiris, Christos Ntaraktsis, Kleio Danai Othonaiou, Kostas Santas, Dimitris Siakaras, Christos Stylianou, Theofano Tzalavra, Konstantinos Tsonopoulos, Eva Fraktopoulou
“The Government Inspector” by Nikolai Gogol
Directed by: Giannis Kakleas
Opening: 24 March 2023
A few words about the play
“The Government Inspector” was first staged in 1836. Nikolai Gogol wrote a social satire in which he lambasts relations in pre-revolutionary Russia, based as they were on power and submission, corruption and despotism. Once again, he focuses on civil servants, the people who languish between their fear of the hierarchy and their curtailed ambitions. As a true realist, Gogol wanted more than to simply describe a situation and the factors that make it what it is, and he succeeds, through his comically pathetic characters, in talking about people, their needs and their pettiness. What’s more, with the distance comedy ensures, he does this with remarkable precision and clarity.
As a small Russian provincial town awaits the arrival of a top civil servant despatched to inspect the workings of its apparatus of state, Khlestakov, an unscrupulous and naive young wastrel, pretends to be the inspector so he can profit from this “minor” misunderstanding. Seeking to gain his favour, the local officials indulge in flattery, fall over themselves to fulfil his every need, and fall victim to the biggest scam of them all.
Credits
Translated by: Leonidas Karatzas, Directed by: Giannis Kakleas
Cast: Nefeli Anthopoulou, Momo Vlachou, Dimitrios Danampasis, Lefteris Dimiropoulos, Efi Drosou, Maria Eleftheriadou, Stelios Kalaitzis, Maria Karamitri, Giannis Karamfilis, Giorgos Kafkas, Faii Kokkinopoulou, Lefteris Litharis, Nikolas Maragkopoulos, Dimitris Morfakidis, Alexandros Moukanos, Nikos Nikolaou, Panagiotis Papaioannou, Spyros Sideris, Giannis Syrios, Christos Tsavos, Giannis Tsiakmakis, Anni Tsolakidou, Giannis Charisis, Maria Chatziioannidou
Foyer of the Royal (Vasiliko) Theatre
“The Portrait Gallery of Dolts” by Nikos Tsiforos
Directed by: Andromachi Chrysomali
Opening: 15 December 2022
A few words about the play
Nikos Tsiforos wrote “The Portrait Gallery of Dolts” in 1944 and it was premièred by Dimitris Horn and Mary Aroni’s theatre company. The play was a great success, with critics hailing it as a “wonderful comedy” and focusing on the playwright's clever dialogue, humour and skill.
The experiment of Josiah Terrington, a rich man who wants to prove that “stupidity is lodged in even the most intelligent of heads”, becomes the occasion for a great love affair. Alinda and Andreas, two impoverished young people, are the heirs of a distant uncle they never knew existed. On their journey to take possession of their enormous inheritance, they meet and fall in love. However, the dead uncle seems to have had different plans for the two of them. Will he succeed in proving that self-interest is Man’s only driving force? And if “human stupidity is so vast, it barely fits into infinity”, what role do love and emotions play in all this? And how much truth can fit into the hearts of these two “stupid” young people?
Credits
Directed by: Andromachi Chrysomali, Movement: Ioanna Mitsika, Production Coordinator: Athanasia Androni
Cast: Lila Vlachopoulou, Lefteris Dimiropoulos, Thanasis Dislis, Christina Zacharof, Kostas Itsios, Lefteris Litharis, Lilian Palantza, Roula Pantelidou, Vasilis Seimenis, Giorgos Sfyridis, Stergios Tzaferis
Lazaristes Monastery - Sokratis Karantinos Stage
“Daddy War” by Iakovos Kambanellis
Directed by: Konstantinos Aspiotis
Opening: 7 October 2022
Duration: 140 min (including interval)
Α few words about the play
The National Theatre of Northern Greece, within the framework of the 2022 Literary Year of Iakovos Kambanellis, presents the writer’s masterpiece “Daddy War”.
Based upon historic facts and more specifically on the siege of Rhodes, Iakovos Kambanellis wrote in 1952 the play “Daddy War”. It is a satire of war, influenced by the strain of the cold-war period, which was accompanied by great expectations.
“The hope that the war which was over in Greece a few years earlier was the last one, resembled to a childish ingenuousness. The situation was also then vague and threatening. The allies, as if they were infected by the evil against which they had fought, became its winners and successors” the writer noted.
Credits
Direction & Dramaturgical processing: Konstantinos Aspiotis, Sets-Lighting: Zoi Molyvda Fameli, Costumes: Sofia Tsirigoti, Music: Giorgos Christianakis, Movement: Anastasia Kelesi
Assistant to the director: Natasa Petropoulou, Collaborating director-Taekwondo instructor: Giannis Tsemperlidis, Assistant to the set & costumes designer: Maria Ossa, Assistant to the set designer: Katerina Bousia Alexaki, Production Coordinator: Athanasia Androni
Cast: Paris Alexandropoulos (Frixus), Dimitris Diakosavvas (Houseguest), Panagiotis Papaioannou (Mentis), Nikos Kapelios (Pamphilus), Chrysi Bachtsevani (Vutia), Stefanos Pittas (Dimades), Dimitris Kartokis (Harry from Lindos), Chara Yiota (Urania), Panos Kammenos (Callicrates), Thanasis Restas (Pythias), Dimitris Morfakidis (Evelpides), Anna Efthymiou (Lamia), Orestes Paliadelis (Dimitrius), Nikos Milias (Neocles), Alexandros Zafeiriadis (Chiliarch), Spyros Sideris (Lucius Terence Piculus), Anna Louizidi (Cornelia, Lucius’ daughter), Glykeria Psarrou (Poppaea Lucius’ daughter), Alexandros Zafeiriadis (Anonymous arms dealer), Kostis Kapellidis, Konstantinos Chilas (Twins), Christos Grozos, Elektra Kazakou, Nikos Manolas, Vasilis Bogdanos, Stella Papanikolaou, Eliza Charalambogianni (Holidaymakers, Guards, Captives, Rhodians). Despina Dikouli (Peace)
Christos Gkrozos, Ilektra Kazakou, Nikos Manolas, Vasilis Bogdanos, Despoina Ntikouli, Stella Papanikolaou, Eliza Charalampogianni
“The Imaginary Invalid” by Molière
Directed by: Thodoris Ampazis
Opening: 25 February 2023
Α few words about the play
Argan is suffering. His health is in tatters and the doctors are trying out every treatment known to science to rid him of his malaise. But is the patient a real patient? Are the doctors real doctors and—one has to ask—is medicine a real science? In his famous comedy, Molière questions the motives and intentions of both patient and doctors, commenting on the underlying psychological conditions discernible behind the stock comic characters. As a result, his protagonists are revealed in all their prosaic humanity: small, scared, selfish and weak. Deeper motives and agendas will be peeled away to reveal human relationships in all their truth and viciousness.
“The Imaginary Invalid” was premiered in 1673. Already sick and disillusioned with medical science, Molière rejects it completely in his final work. His health would deteriorate to the extent that he would die having managed to play the role of Argan just four times.
This is the fourth time the National Theatre of Northern Greece has staged the final comedy by the master of the French classical stage. Argan the fearful hypochondriac will confront anew his phobias, his egoism, and the need to control his life — a sweet life lived out among creature comforts but under a shadow: for no authority can guarantee that there will be a tomorrow.
Credits
Translated by: Ioannis Polemis, Directed by: Thodoris Ampazis
In the lead role: Asterios Peltekis
Cast: Antonis Antonakos, Stavroula Arampatzoglou, Anastasia Daliaka, Tzortzina Daliani, Dimitris Diakosavvas, Zoi Efthymiou, Nikos Kapelios, Ilektra Kartanou, Thanos Kontogiorgis, Evi Koutalianou, Christina Konstantinidou, Vivi Mitsiska, Peris Michailidis, Vasilis Papadopoulos, Grigoris Papadopoulos, Polyxeni Spyropoulou, Iovi Fragkatou, Glykeria Psarrou
“The sound things make when they fall”
Dramaturgy: Angeliki Papoulia
Directed by: Christos Passalis
Opening: 12 Μay 2023
Α few words about the play
“The sound things make when they fall” tells the story of a city where things trivial and important, ideas precious and dangerous, historical events bloody and revolutionary, disappear one after another, leaving no trace behind in people’s minds and souls. The birds disappear and the roses, too; the words “freedom” and “elbow” are suddenly no more; it’s as if the war in Syria and the Twin Towers never were; and genocides, gifts, music, 1974 and 2004, Playmobil, the Lord of the Rings, Rihanna and cinema all vanish into thin air. The only way the people of the city can react is through the touching and funny ceremonies they have devised to remember for one last time everything that’s being lost with each new day, and to bid farewell to them forever. The last thing they will bid adieu to is their ability to say goodbye.
Lazaristes Monastery - Studio Theatre
“Foxfinder” by Dawn King
Directed by: Christina Chatzivasileiou
Opening: 30 September 2022
Rating: Suitable for ages 16+
Duration: 100 min (no interval)
Α few words about the play
In a world in crisis, staring famine in the face as crops are destroyed by torrential rain, agents of the Authority resolve to send an Elite Foxfinder to identify the causes of low productivity. William Bloor, in training since childhood in a special state institution, visits Samuel and Judith to ascertain if they have been infected by the “red beast”: vulpes-vulpes. However, as his investigation progresses, hidden truths long suppressed begin to surface and upset the delicate balance between the couple and their close friend Sarah.
Dawn King’s “Foxfinder” won the Papatango New Writing competition and premièred in London in 2011. A devastating text with elements of British humour, it shows how confronting fear can lead to the Self mercilessly pursuing the Other. A contemporary existential noir directed with a cinematic flow, a fast pace and poetic atmosphere by Christina Chatzivasileiou, “Foxfinder” weaves its thread around the illogic of power and faith.
Credits
Translated by: Giorgos Chatzinikolaou, Direction - Dramaturgical processing: Christina Chatzivasileiou, Sets - Costumes - Video: Eleni Stroulia, Music: Bampis Papadopoulos, Lighting: Eliza Alexandropoulou, Assistant to the director: Kiki Karaiskou, Assistants to the set-costumes-video designer: Tatiana Nikolaidou, Tzanos Mazis, Production Coordinator: Filothei Eleftheriadou
Cast: Giannis Karamfilis (Samuel), Revekka Tsiligkaridou (Judith), Nikolas Maragkopoulos (William), Lila Vlahopoulou (Sarah)
“Angela” by Giorgos Sevastikoglou
Directed by: Dimitris Bitos
Opening: 8 December 2022
Α few words about the play
A young maid working in a well-to-do residence in Athens commits suicide. Angela comes up from the country and takes her place. She meets the brother of the unfortunate girl and falls in love with him. He is trying to find out who’s responsible for his sister’s death. But it’s not long before he realizes that he’s tangled up in something far darker than he could ever has suspected.
“Angela” by Giorgos Sevastikoglou was written in Moscow in 1957. It presents a realistic portrayal of a post-civil war Greece plagued by unemployment and corruption through the eyes of its most vulnerable social group: the country women who have come to the city to work in bourgeois homes, where they are exploited absolutely and enjoy no rights at all. Their oppression, in which the authorities are complicit, sets the scene for horror and for a cover-up. From the rooftops of these wealthy homes, the women articulate a voice through their guilt, hope and rejection. A voice of submission, a yell of resistance or a howl of despair?
Credits
Direction - Dramaturgical processing : Dimitris Bitos, Assistant to the director: Eleni Mentekidou, Lighting: Nysos Vasilopoulos, Production Coordinator: Marily Ventouri
Cast: Theodora Elli Athanasopoulou, Iordanis Aivazoglou, Melina Apostolidou, Nikolaos Drosopoulos, Zoi Efthymiou, Giannis Karamfilis, Eleni Michailidou, Ioanna Pagiataki, Thodoris Polyzonis
“To You who are listening to me” by Loula Anagnostaki
Directed by: Christos Theodoridis
Opening: 10 February 2023
Α few words about the play
A society that has lost its moorings, which is in turmoil, its streets awash with demonstrations and riots as different social groups try to make themselves heard and impose their views. At the same time, in an old Berlin house, the characters in the play are doing their best to coexist and survive in a world that has become even more inhospitable and precarious, especially for immigrants. Rehearsing their speeches for tomorrow’s peace demonstration, the characters reveal through their personal histories the political and social impasses they have to deal with. The public invades the private sphere sonically, while the personal becomes political in a society in search of new ideological pillars.
Loula Anagnostaki wrote “To You who are listening to me” in 2003. It is a text which, starting with its title, attempts to engage the audience in contemporary political issues and to invite audience members to take a stand against what’s happening. At tomorrow’s demonstration, “everyone must speak”, just as everyone must decide on the future of society together.
Credits
Directed by: Christos Theodoridis
Cast: Paris Alexandropoulos, Semiramis Ampatzoglou, Nikos Drosopoulos, Eleni Thymiopoulou, Giorgos Kolovos, Nikos Milias, Chrysi Bachtsevani, Bety Nikolesi
“Big in Japan” by Katerina Louvari-Fasoi
Directed by: Pantelis Dentakis
Opening: 22 April 2023
Α few words about the play
“Big in Japan” consists of five linked stories. The question they pose individually and together is this: “Is it worth living the way I do, and if not, does the solution lie in giving up or fighting to change my life?”.
The play is inspired by five extreme social phenomena encountered in contemporary Japan, in which desperate people reach the end of their tether and give up on life. But though the phenomena in question may seem foreign and extreme, we realize that their underlying causes exist in and plague every modern society as the entire world navigates a period of intense chaos and apparent futility. Which is why, while the characters may seem like specific individuals at first, we quickly identify them as people who live around us, nearby, within us. They express that part of ourselves which often finds itself trapped and despairing, which is exhausted from its efforts to cope with the demands placed on it, which feels the need to give up and withdraw completely.
Credits
Directed by: Pantelis Dentakis
Cast: Iordanis Aivazoglou, Ioanna Demertzidou, Emmanouela Kampitsi, Aglaia Katsiki, Ioanna Pagiataki, Vasilis Spyropoulos, Christos Stylianou, Giannis Tomazos, Konstantinos Chatzisavvas
Children’s Stage / Royal (Vasiliko) Theatre
“Garis, the Musical” by Tasoula Eptakoili
Directed by: Tasos Pyrgieris
Opening: 6 November 2022
“Garis”, one of three books for children written by Tasoula Eptakoili, has been imaginatively adapted for the stage by Vangelis Koufakos. The author, who is well-known both as a journalist (as an editor on the Greek daily “I Kathimerini”) and as an author (“My other whole”, “The woman in the elevator”, “Coin in the air”, “Do you see me?”), as well as for writing and presenting the successful “Plana me Oura” [Shaggydog Shots], a successful show about animal welfare on Greek state television, introduces us to the wonderful world of fantasy through the life of her own four-legged superhero.
Α few words about the play
“Garis, the Musical” is the story of a donkey whose ability to fly will draw children into adventures which are as exciting as they are unexpected—given that, where English says “When pigs fly!” for something that isn’t going to happen, Greek says the same of donkeys.
Tasoula, a dynamic journalist, is asked to write an article about Superman. But in a fit of creativity and research, she begins to wonder how donkeys got their bad reputation. So she sets out to identify the root of these prejudices, to help us all see these unique and kindly animals with new eyes.
Garis is a donkey who one day realizes he can fly. But his superpower is activated by one thing and one thing alone: empathy. He listens to and feels the pain of others, and always ends up helping them—as long as that’s the right and just thing to do. “Garis” will transport children into a world of fantasy, making them love one of our very own superheroes: the long-suffering donkey of the Greek countryside. And it is this animal, so misunderstood in our folk tradition and in our language, that transcends our reality and “flies” us to a place where the concepts of justice, companionship, empathy and solidarity regain their place and worth.
Credits
Theatrical adaptation: Vangelis Koufakos, Directed by: Tasos Pyrgieris, Sets-Costumes: Alexia Theodoraki, Music: Dimitris Maramis, Lyrics: Sotiris Trivizas, Choreography: Kostas Gerardos, Music coaching: Panagiotis Barlas, Lighting: Stelios Tzolopoulos, Assistant to the director: Christoforos Mariadis, 2nd Assistant to the director: Thanasis Dislis, Assistant to the set-costumes designer: Manolis Psomatakis, Production Coordinator: Marina Chatziioannou
Cast: Marianna Avramaki, Lefteris Angelakis, Pelagia Angelidou, Manos Galanis, Eleni Giannousi, Ilektra Goniadou, Mara Malgarinou, Christos Papadimitriou, Maria Nefeli Paraskevopoulou, Dimitris Sakatzis, Evi Sarmi, Eva Sofronidou, Eleftheria Tetoula, Giannis Tsatsaris
Shadow Puppet Theatre / Lazaristes Monastery - Sokratis Karantinos Stage
“Peace” by Aristophanes
Adapted & Directed by: Christos Stanisis
Opening: 13 November 2023
Α few words about the play
Christos Stanisis adapts and directs Aristophanes’ “Peace” as a popular comedy with ancient roots in which shadow puppet theatre and live action are combined. The production, which was staged with great success in the summer, returns this autumn. Together, figures, puppets, actors and musicians create a musical theatre spectacle for the whole family.
Credits
Αdaptation, Direction, Sets, Costumes, Music supervising, Karagiozis puppeteer: Christos Stanisis, Lighting: Stelios Tzolopoulos, Song, Assistant to the set - costumes designer, Shadow puppeteer: Gogo Mantouvalou, Production Coordinator: Eirini Chatzikyriakidou
Cast: Mairi Andreou, Angelos Karanikolas, Vivi Mitsitska, Giannis Tsiakmakis
Μusicians on stage: Andrianna Petala, Panormitis Boumpas, Stelios Stergiopoulos
Workshops
Artistic Workshops
Educational Workshops
Playwriting Workshop
Artistic Workshops following the method of the mixed group “En dynamei Ensemble”, for teenagers and young people, with and without disabilities
Collaboration with the National Theatre of Greece
International Activity
International Forest Festival
“Catastrophe” Project - Union des Théâtres de l’Europe
NSRF Programmes
International Forest Festival
Τhe NTNG in Education
“Prometheus” Programme
Digital Stage
Recovery and Resilience Facility