Douzos goes for ‘Hunchback’ and ‘Angels’
Up until 1992, his was a familiar and constant presence on stage, as actor and the owner of the former Super Star Theater, today known as the Katia Dandoulaki Theater. The dual identity of businessman and actor, however, became a heavy burden for the man who has served the theater for the last 45 years; the artistic medium still holds him in thrall, but he has become more selective. This season, his theater appearance is twofold: On the one hand he appears in The Hunchback of Notre Dame on the Trianon stage for children, while on the other, he appears in Tennessee Williams’s Battle of Angels, a play for grown-ups, at the Broadway theater. These are two very different roles – facing the children is the harsh judge, while in the Williams play the lonely Monk is the bar owner who listens to everybody’s grievances. Is there any relation between the two characters? None whatsoever, says Andreas Douzos. The first role gives me the energy to produce a play for kids, whom I adore, while the second role is the one that gives me pleasure, as I worked with director Giorgios Theodosiadis, a teacher of my generation whom I met for the first time. Graduating from the Mouzenidis drama school, Douzos’s first appearance on stage was in 1953, collaborating with Elly Lambeti and Dimitris Horn. In the ensuing years, he covered extensive ground in both theater and film, becoming a fixture in the golden years of Greek cinema in the 1960s. Is there anything else he wishes to do in acting? Don’t expect me to say that I wish to appear in a tragedy. I would rather act in a contemporary play and not insult the audience. Last year, the actor worked with the new guard of Greek cinema, appearing in Giorgos Panousopoulos’s Athens Blues. It was an impeccable collaboration with a director I really believe in, says Douzos. I wish I had more offers like that one. Don’t think that I do and that I reject them. The truth must be told.
