Three Cypriot productions, which were particularly successful – with audiences and critics – during their presentation in Cyprus in the 2022-2023 theater season, were selected by a three-member Selection Committee for participation in the activity and their presentation at the National Theatre.
The cycle of performances of this year’s event “Cypriot Theater Week”, opens on Wednesday, May 22 with the performance Before the German came by Marta Barcelo, directed by Costas Silvestrou, with the actors Popi Abraham and Andrea Koutsofta on stage (produced by HAMM Broductions).
The performance follows on Friday, May 24 Word of mouth by Kieran Hurley, directed by Maria Kyriakou and on stage by the actors Andreas Daniel and Melani Stelios (produced by “Ferefono” Group).
The “Cyprus Theater Week” concludes on Sunday, May 26, with the performance The yellow wallpaper, a play based on the short story of the same name by the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, adapted and directed by Maria Iolis Karolidou, with Antonia Charalambous on stage (produced by the Maria Iolis Karolidou Theater Group).
THE “Cypriot Week Theatro” is an evolution of the “Cypriot Theatrical Week in Athens”, which took place in the period 2009 – 2018 in a total of six events. The aim of the organization is to promote and get to know the contemporary and constantly evolving Cypriot theater creation in the Greek space, to promote notable theatrical productions outside the Cypriot borders, as well as to create an artistic dialogue with Greek theater groups and the Greek audience.
Word of mouth
Before the German came
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The shows in detail
Wednesday, May 22
BEFORE THE GERMAN COMES by Marta Barcelo
Directed by: Kostas Silvestros
HAMM Broductions presents Before the German by award-winning Catalan writer Marta Barceló, a contemporary play about Alzheimer’s disease. The play was written for a drama tournament, which forbade stage directions.
The director Kostas Silvestros, in a “white canvas” project, creates a unique universe for his heroine. Next to Popi Avraam is Andreas Koutsoftas, who embodies a multitude of roles and with us they present the daily moments of the heroine.
Julia, a woman in her 60s, a widow, has long known that something is wrong with her memory. Medical tests confirm her suspicions: she suffers from Alzheimer’s. It is only a matter of time before she loses her personality completely and stops even recognizing her sons.
So she decides to make a list of everything she really wants to do while she is still able to make her own life decisions. She wants to enjoy every precious minute, before “The German” takes over her mind forever.
A work for light, for love, for what is worth living for.
▪ Duration: 70 minutes
The show is suitable for people over 16 years of age
Performance ID
Translation: Maria Hadjiemmanouil
Directed by: Kostas Silvestros
Sets-Costumes: Giorgos Giannou
Lighting design: Vassilis Peteinaris
Music: Konstantinos Lemesios
Assistant director: Loizos Papageorgiou
Production organization: Marios Mettis
Production: HAMM Productions
Starring: Popi Avraam, Andreas Koutsoftas
Word of mouth
Dimitris Loutsios
Friday, May 24
WORDS IN THE MOUTH of Kieran Hurley
Directed by: Maria Kyriakou
The “Ferefono” team presents the play Words in the Mouth of the award-winning Scottish writer Kieran Hurley, directed by Maria Kyriakou, presented in a pan-Hellenic premiere in December 2022 in Cyprus.
Libby is forty-six. He is a writer. He was a writer. Libby stands on the edge of the hill, drinking and watching the city lights come on. He wonders… “How fast does a body fall?” Declan is seventeen. He sits on the edge of the hill, looks at the city and paints. Declan sees a body about to fall. “Yeeee!”
Edinburgh. Dusk. A woman. A boy. An unexpected meeting.
Two completely different people. And in the background the city. Declan gives Libby the urge to write again. Libby gives Declan hope. Declan tells Libby his story. Libby voices Declan.
Honest, solid and with unexpected humor, the play takes a look at two different sides of a city that co-exist while ignoring each other and asks how to tell someone else’s story without exploiting them in the process.
The play was written in 2018, and premiered at the Traverse Theater in Edinburgh. It received rave reviews and in 2019 transferred to the Soho Theater in London. Loya sto stoma is the first presentation of the work in Greek.
▪ Duration: 100 minutes
The show is suitable for people over 15 years old
Performance ID
Translation: Marios Konstantinou
Directed by: Maria Kyriakou
Sets-Costumes: Konstantina Andreou
Music: Panos Bartzis
Traffic Advisor: Julia Brendle
Lighting design: Vassilis Peteinaris
Projection design: Anna Fotiadou, Chrysanthi Dimitriou
Assistant director: Augustina Stylianou
Production: Ferefon Group
Starring: Andreas Daniel, Melani Steliou
The yellow wallpaper
Dimitris Loutsios
Sunday, May 26
THE YELLOW CARPET by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Adaptation / Direction: Maria Ioli Karolidou
The theater group of Maria Iolis Karolidou presents the play The Yellow Wallpaper, with Antonia Charalambous on stage. The story of the play is based on the short story of the same name by the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
The story is a collection of diary entries written by a young woman who appears to be suffering from postpartum depression. Her doctor husband isolates her in a country house in order to force her into a rest cure. Locking her in the children’s room of the house, he forbids her any creative work and imposes on her a strict diet and medication as well as the use of electrotherapy. It also deprives her of contact with all her intimates, even her baby.
With no other stimulus than the wallpaper in the room, the woman in the story focuses on the designs and patterns of the wallpaper, which gradually transform into an autonomous entity with which the narrator will develop a catalytic relationship, particularly regarding the perception of gender identity. of and the limitations imposed by the dominant patriarchal narrative.
Duration: 70 minutes
The show is suitable for ages 12+
Performance ID
Adaptation-Translation-Direction: Maria Ioli Karolidou
Stages-Projections: Anna Fotiadou
Costumes: Maria Georgiou
Sound design: Yannis Koutis
Kinesiology: Elena Antoniou
Lighting design: Stavros Tartaris
Photos: Dimitris Loutsios
Production: Theater group of Maria Iolis Karolidou
Performed by Antonia Charalambous
INFORMATION
Shows start at 20:30
Ticket prices:
€15 general admission
€10 discount (students, unemployed, over 65, disabled)
Ticket sales:
▪ TICKET SERVICES – by phone: 210 72 34 567 – online: www.ticketservices.gr
▪ National Theater Funds: Chiller Building & Rex Theatre
Performance information: tel. 210 52 88 170-171 and www.nt.gr
This year’s – second – organization of the “Cyprus Theater Week” is henceforth a co-organization of the Deputy Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cyprus and the KKDITH, which takes place with the support of the House of Cyprus in Athens.
