Athens neighborhood gets a beloved cultural landmark back, now as a theater
The Petit Palais cinema in the hip downtown Athens district of Pangrati will be reopening its doors to the public in October after undergoing a transformation into a theater.
From 1962 when it was inaugurated until 2019 when it folded under the impact of the financial meltdown, skyrocketing rents and the Covid pandemic – crises that brought many of the capital’s movie theaters to their knees – the Petit Palais was a film buff’s reference point in one of Athens’ most popular neighborhoods, playing a high-quality roster of Greek and international productions, as well as cutting-edge work shunned by conventional outlets, including the first-ever public screening in Greece of Yorgos Lanthimos’ controversial “Dogtooth.”
“Petit Palais’ new incarnation as a theater is a response to the local community’s demand that the space retain its cultural character and remain artistically active,” the venue’s new management said in a statement on Thursday announcing the theater’s launch this coming fall.
Indeed, Pangrati recently bade farewell to another beloved cinema, the sprawling Palas on Ymittou, which is said to have been bought by a big German supermarket chain. The quaint open-air Oasis, tucked away in the garden between several apartment blocks on Pratinou Street, has also been struggling in recent years, relying solely on low-cost old films. Its future is rumored to be more uncertain following the death of one of its two elderly owners.
‘Petit Palais’ new incarnation as a theater is a response to the local community’s demand that the space retain its cultural character and remain artistically active’
The area is not doing much better on the theater front either, following the closure in 2022 of the youthful and energetic Scrow Theater on Archelaou Street just a decade after it opened. The building was reportedly sold by its owner to a developer.
Petit Palais’ arrival in October is, therefore, much anticipated by residents of Pangrati and beyond.
According to the new management, the launch will be with Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tattoo,” adapted and directed by Giorgos Tsouris and starring Maria Kavogianni and Makis Papadimitriou. In December, meanwhile, it will premiere a classic Greek comedy from 1870, “The Showoff” (O Fiakas), adapted and directed by Giorgos Tsouris and Alexandros Chrysanthopoulos.
“Carrying on in the tradition of the space, the theater will keep the original logo with which Athens got to know the Petit Palais, while special events are being planned, starting in the new season for the venue’s old friends and for the residents of the area,” Thursday’s announcement added.
