Plays
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Alexander the Great and the Accursed Snake
Alexander the Great and the Accursed Snake: a shadow play (featuring Karagiozis / Karagkiozes [Καραγκιόζης] as main character)
Production by Thanasis Spyropoulos (ca. 1965?) Excerpt from the last quarter of the play Clip taken from the VHS Ο Μέγας Αλέξανδρος και το καταραμένο φίδι (Alexander the Great and the Accursed Snake) A related full translation is available, under a different title:"The Seven Beasts and Karagiozis" by Markos Xanthos. In Karagiozis. Three Classic Plays. Translated and introduced by Kostas Myrsiades and Linda Myrsiades. New York: Pella Publishing Co., 1999: 99-130. |
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Courtyard of Miracles
Iakovos Kambanellis, Courtyard of Miracles (1957)
Two scenes, from Acts 2 and 3 respectively Production by the Theater of Kaisariani (Athens), 1996 From the collection of the Theatre Museum of Athens A seminal play (in four parts) by the “Father” of the Greek Theater, first produced 1957-58 at Karolos Koun’s Art Theater in Athens. According to its author, the play reflects the great economic and social reconstruction in post World War II Greece — the distance separating the successful businessmen in the center of Athens from the poor neighbourhoods with courtyards shared by workers and refugees, who are ruled by financial insecurity and dreams of emigration. “The Courtyard of Miracles was, at the time of its composition, the swan song of a world that was deeply our own and deeply embittered”. Full translation available: “Courtyard of Miracles, a play in four acts”. Translated by I. T. Murdoch. Thespis 2-3 (May 1965): 127-151. Greek original (Η Αυλή των Θαυμάτων) printed in: Ιάκωβος Καμπανέλλης, Θέατρο (Αθήνα: Κέδρος, 1978), τόμ. Α΄: 89-187 |
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The EggCostas Mourselas, The Egg (early 1970s)
Based on the DVD circulated by "EPT" (Hellenic Radio and Television) The Egg (a one-act sketch from the series Eκείνος κι εκείνος, written by Costas Mourselas and shown on Greek national television in the early ‘70s) – this one-act play of ca. 30 mins. total duration has been subdivided by us into six clips. Full English translation available (however, the published text of the play [in either Greek or English] is not concordant with the scenes of the TV drama): The Egg. In Selected Short Plays. Translated by Andrew Horton. Athens: Anglo-Hellenic Publishing, 1975: 39-49. The Greek text is printed in: Κώστας Μουρσελάς, Εκείνος και εκείνος. Αθήνα: Κέδρος, 1999: 29-43. |
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The Match
George Maniotis, The Match (1978)
From the beginning of the play Performance by the Public Regional Theater of Agrinio (1992-93) From the collection of the Theatre Museum of Athens Full translation available as booklet: The Match. Translated by Nicholas Kostis. Boston, MA: The Maliotis Cultural Center, 1998. The Greek text is printed in: Γιώργος Μανιώτης, Το ματς. 3η έκδοση. Αθήνα: Κέδρος. Πρωτοπαίχτηκε στη Νέα Σκηνή του Εθνικού Θεάτρου στις 3 Φεβρουαρίου 1978 (First performed at the Nea Skini of the National Theater on February 3 1978). |
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The Moonlight Sonata
Yiannis Ritsos, The Moonlight Sonata (a dramatic monologue in poetic form, 1956)
From the beginning of the play Performance by the theatrical company “Dialogos” (Athens), 1989 From the collection of the Theatre Museum of Athens Full translation: “Moonlight Sonata”. Translated by Kimon Friar. In Yannis Ritsos: Selected Poems, 1938-1988. Edited and translated by Kimon Friar and Kostas Myrsiades. Brockport, NY: BOA Editions, 1989: 59-67. |
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The Pre-Last of the Monikins
Paris Tacopoulos, The Pre-Last of the Monikins (a monologue “without a beginning and without an end”, 1966-2005)
The entire performance (by permission) as recorded in English at the time of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival production in 2005 Performance (and direction) by Nikos Kalamo of the Theatrico Phytoria Aiginae Borrowing from critical writings: Tacopoulos “has made himself a slot in Greek avant-garde literature with his works full of Joyce-esque wordplay and multiple puns which, in this one-man play [a 90-minute monologue], includes Anglo-Hellenic verbal acrobatics combined with bitter allusions to known flaws in the Greek character and oblique references to mentalities that are squeezed between super-and infer- -iority, a technique that allows unpalatable truths to sound less offensive wrapped as they are in puns” (Mario Modiano). “There is nothing to prevent the writer from painting the incredible lightness of being in his own incredible, unique and at the same time hilarious way, whereby members of the audience burst into laughter from comprehension, while at the same time remaining perturbed by the threat that continues to lurk beneath the comic dialogue" (Chara Baconicola). Full English version of the play, by its author, available as a printed program The Greek text (Ο Προτελευταίος των Μόνικιν: μονόλογος χωρίς αρχή και χωρίς τέλος) is printed in: Πάρις Τακόπουλος, Τα Θεατρικά (Αθήνα: Ελληνικά Γράμματα, 2003), τόμ. Α΄: 57-72. |
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With Power from Kifissia
Dimitris Kechaidis and Eleni Haviara, With Power from Kifissia
Excerpt from Scene I Production by the Odos Kykladwn Theater (Athens), 1995 From the collection of the Theatre Museum of Athens Full translation available: With Power from Kifissia. Translated by Nelli Karra. In Contemporary Greek Theatre. London: Arcadia Books, 1999. Vol. I: 85-170. |