Theater company pays tribute to forgotten authors

Ochi Paizoume presents ‘The Cherry Rose’

The Ochi Paizoume troupe is back with an in-depth take on the work of author Platonas Rodokanakis.

Since 2006, the theater company has shown particular interest in relatively forgotten 20th-century playwrights – in 2006 the troupe focused on Napoleon Lapathiotis and the following year on Constantinos Christomanos – in order to shed light on little-known aspects of their work. This year, it’s Rodokanakis’s turn, with a production titled “Rodoka-nakis Rediscovered, 1908-2008: To Vissini Triantafyllo” (The Cherry Rose).

Marking 100 years since the work’s first reading, the play opened recently at the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens and is now moving on to Bios in Kerameikos (July 16-22); the Isadora Duncan Center in Vyronas (July 26-30); the Kastrominas Theater on Chios (August 29-31) and finally, the Benaki Museum Annex on Pireos Street (September 20-23).

A series of 15-minute presentations by guest speakers will run prior to each performance. The list of speakers includes Harvard Byzantine Art professor Ioli Kalavrezou, the Greek National Theater’s Savvas Kyriakidis and playwright Akis Dimou, among others.

Once the run of performances is over, the company promises to issue a commemorative publication that will also serve as a vehicle for further research and study. Immediately after the Chios and Athens performances, the members of the troupe are planning more stops around the country, each of which will in some way be related to Rodokanakis’s life and work.