Capital’s theater scene revs up
The Athens theater scene welcomed autumn with last week’s three premieres as well as the restaging of four of last year’s productions. Yiannis Economidis’s award-winning film «Matchbox» has been adapted for the theater by Hara Tsioli and just opened at the Victoria Theater. Directed by Dimitris Komninos and performed by the 90 Degrees Celsius company, the play has been described as a «family war taking place within four walls.» It stars Costas Baras, Marianna Lambiri, Ernestos Voutsinos, Christina Dendrinou and Aris Tsambalikas. «One Out of Ten,» the performance that Laertes Vassileiou has prepared for the Loft of the Neos Cosmos Theater, is something special in that it explores the second generation of immigrants and is based on the experiences of the participating actors. David Maltese, Chris Radanov and Enkelled Fezollari are the three young actors, all of them children of immigrants, who get caught in a Balkan game of guilt, reality and hope. «Bats,» a series of short stories by Lena Kitsopoulou, is being staged by the Assipka theater company at Bios for a limited run and is also very interesting. Meanwhile, the Epi Kolono Theater is hosting once more the production of «Bug» by the Nama theater company, directed by Giorgos Paloumbis. A thriller balancing between reality and illusion, the play is full of desperate love stories, obsessions, drugs and conspiracy theories, that all lead to a whirlpool of paranoia and illusions. It stars Maria Tsaroucha, Dimitris Lelos, Vasso Kamaratou, Stathis Stamoulakatos and Costas Koutsolelos. Proceeds from the weekend performances will go to people stricken by fires in the villages of Achaia. Strindberg Another restaging takes place at the Stoa Theater, with Thanassis Papageorgiou’s take on August Strindberg’s «The Father,» a production that opens once more tonight. A play that was very popular last season, it was the result of the playwright’s concerns at the time about fatherhood, the eternal divide between men and women, and mostly the damage that his relationship with his wife suffered back then. Apart from directing, Papageorgiou also stars alongside Leda Protopsalti and the production further features Polykarpos Polykarpou, Nadia Peristeropoulou, Alekos Kouros, Anna Kozadinou and Stefanos Kalaitzis. Willy Russell’s comedy «Educating Rita» will continue as well, but will be staged at the Athens Theater this season. It is directed by Giorgos Kimoulis who will also star once more, alongside Katerina Papoutsaki. Fans of old Athens and the classic Greek 1960s movies of Alekos Sakellarios have another chance to enjoy the comedy «The Aunt from Chicago,» directed by Petros Philippidis and starring Anna Panayiotopoulou in the title role. It is being staged at the Ivi Theater. At the Veaki Theater, Mirka Papaconstantinou will continue with Alejandro Casona’s «The House of the Seven Balconies» (the Greek title is «Horevondas sti Siopi»).
