PUENTE THEATRE

WORLDPLAY 2019 

​

March 9th @ 2 pm:  M.A.I.R.O.U.L.A. by Lena Kitsopoulou (Greece) 

                                      ...and Juliet  by Akis Dimou  (Greece) 

                                                                  Directed by Britt Small

​

M.A.I.R.O.U.L.A.

​

In the kitchen of her house, a woman is pondering on whether and why is it bad to be depressed. Why is it bad to be pessimist. Why is modern society struggling to put a label and a title to everything, and why is it violently pushing the human being towards positive energy and thought.  The heroine in M.A.I.R.O.U.L.A. humorously and sarcastically, reaching the limits of paranoia, is constantly overthrowing the facts and the philosophies that are supposed to help a “healthy” and “happy” life, and is screaming for the right to misery and nihilism. For the lowness and futility of what is called human being. She negates all the quotes, she negates the science of psychology, she negates the fashions and the magazines, she negates the lies of love and the roles we are doomed to play. She demonstrates, using her own philosophy, that “good,” “evil,” “positive” and “negative” are simply labels that accommodate modern capitalistic society to sell pills and magazines, causing pressure to the human being who is always feeling incapable of achieving the famed “ideal  stability” that is essential to a good and happy life.  In the end the heroine kills herself and in the otherworld finds herself in the same, if not worse, situation, since, as she puts it “here they are assholes as well, given that it’s the same people who were on earth.” She regrets it and wants to go back, but it’s too late. She ends up living a monotonous eternity with the dead, who have created an authority system there too. They are playing roles according to what accommodates them. Even in death, nothing changes. Saint Peter himself beats her ruthlessly, blaming her for the suicide she committed. “It’s a scam, lies here too, you guys.”

​

Lena Kitsopoulou was born and lives in Athens. She is a graduate of Karolos Koun Drama School (1994). As an actress she participated and participates in classic and modern plays, as well as in cinema. In 1997 she received the Best Actress award in Thessaloniki International Film Festival for the film No Sympathy For the Devil directed by Dimitris Athanitis. In 2006 her first collection of short stories was released by Kedros publishing, by the title Nichterides (Bats) which received the Best Debut Author award in 2007. She is working as a writer and a director ever since. She writes for newspapers and participates in collections of short stories, the most recent one being Apotipomata tis Krisis (Crisis Impressions) by Metaixmio publishing, 2013. In 2011 her second collection of short stories was released, Megali Dromi (Great Roads) by Metaixmio publishing. She wrote and directed the M.A.I.R.O.U.L.A. monologue (2009) and Aoustras or the Hardness (2011) for the National Theatre and Athanasios Diakos - The Return for the Athens Festival (2012). She directed The Woman from Patras by George Chronas (Apo Michanis Theatre, tour), Chere Nimphi (Greeting Nymph) by Gregorios Xenopoulos (2011, Art Theatre). She directed and acted in the play Ludus, Lucta, Illusio, a narration of the novel by H. Kleist The Duel,  in collaboration with the early music ensemble Ex Silentio (2013 Athens Festival).  In 2012 she participated with two one act plays, N-euro-se and The Price, in two European Theatre Festivals, Wake - up, Voicing Resistance in Berlin and Theatre Uncut in London. Her plays have been translated in English, French, German, Spanish and Polish. For her play Athanasios Diakos - The Return she received the National Playwright award (Interanationaler Autorenpreis) in Heidelberg, during the 2013 Heidelberger Stückemarkt. In May 2014 her recent play Red Riding Hood - the First Blood has been presented in Onassis Cultural Centre, under her direction. In 2015 she presented under her direction her play A day, just like any other day, in one of the many flats in Athens, those that have secure doors and comfy sofas, in a state of frenzy. Or the futility of living, at the Art Theatre – Karolos koun.

​

​

...and Juliet

​

What if Juliet hadn’t died next to Romeo? What if she’d kept on ageing alone? Inspired by Shakespeare’s seminal play, this monologue is about the loss of love, and the agony and solitude of a woman who has been blessed to experience the birth and the end of a strong love affair and who’s now condemned to live under the shadow of its remembrance.

​

Akis Dimou was born in Amaliada. He studied Law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki where he also completed a postgraduate course in Civil Law and Criminology.

The monologue … and Juliet was his first play to be staged in 1995. Since then, 24 of his plays have been presented on various theatre venues (state or other); four of his plays have been adapted from novels by Alexander Dumas (The Lady of the Camellias), Konstantinos Christomanos (The Waxen Doll), Maria Iordanidou (Loxandra) and Menis Koumandareas (Koula). In 2012, and in collaboration with Giorgos Kimoulis, he adapted for the stage Theo van Gogh’s and Theodor Holman’s screenplay Interview. A lot of his plays have been translated into English, French, Spanish and Portuguese and have been presented in theatre venues in the UK, Spain, Portugal and Belgium. His complete works in Greek have been published by Egokeros Editions.

Since 2008 he has taught Dramaturgy in Andreas Voutsinas School of Drama.

He lives in Thessaloniki.

​

Britt Small studied at LaMama's Director's Intensive in Italy and has trained in various physical theatre forms. She completed her MFA in Directing at the University of Victoria with a production of Sophocles' Electra. She is the artistic producer of company Atomic Vaudeville and plays in the band Slut Revolver. Nationally and internationally, Britt has directed Janet Munsil's Circus Fire and The Ugly Duchess, Jacob Richmond's The Qualities of Zero, Ride the Cyclone and Legoland, The Fantasticks and True West for Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre, numerous new Fringe Festival plays and Firebugs at the William Head prison. Her work as a director has received several national awards as well as a Jessie nomination for My Chernobyl at the Gateway and the Belfry. Britt also works as a dramaturge and book editor and has taught acting, play building, movement and improvisation for various organizations including the University of Victoria and the Canadian College of Performing Arts.

​

​

March 16th:  Saying Yes  by Griselda Gambardo  (Argentina)                                       Bones for Otto  by Lia Bugnar (Romania)                                                                                     Directed by Jason Vikse

​

Saying Yes

​

A short play by a leading Argentine playwright, telling the shocking story of an everyday trip to the hairdressers.  Saying Yes is an essential introduction to the fascinating but largely unexplored theatre of Latin America. Saying Yes by Griselda Gambaro is a grotesque comedy about man's inhumanity to man.

​

Griselda Gambaro (born 1928 in Argentina), one of Latin America's most prolific and important playwrights, scrutinizes the role of theatre and theatricality in Argentina's tumultuous recent history. Her plays of the 1960s, such as The Walls (1963), Siamese Twins (1965) and The Camp (1967), already depict the escalation of political violence that became the grim reality of Argentina's 'Dirty War' (1976-83). The bizarre environments of victims and victimizers, abductions and concentration camps, foretell the atrocities to come. In the 1970s, major works such as Information for Foreigners (1972) and Strip (1974), explore the role of the population living in a criminal society. The audience becomes the main protagonist in Information for Foreigners - not the population of torturers and torture victims of earlier plays, but the audience of innocent by-standers, complicitous onlookers, and invisible members of the silent majority who had to make daily decisions about how to act and react to the brutality around them. Her work of the 1980s, such as Decir Sí (Saying Yes, 1981), and Antígona Furiosa (1986) marks the population's gradual shift from passive participant to furious resistance. In the 1990s, plays such as Atando cabos (1991, Tying Loose Ends) and Es necesario entender un poco (1995, It's Important to Understand a Little), show people trying to deal with the traumatic aftershocks of their recent experience. Throughout her career, Griselda Gambaro has been in tune with the political climate in her country. When she went into exile in Spain during the 'Dirty War,' she gave up writing theatre. She needed her audience, but no more than her audience needed her. Gambaro is the most celebrated playwright in Argentina. Her works are produced in all the major theatres, and awarded every conceivable prize. She has won dozens of national awards. She is also recognized internationally as Argentina's most important living playwright. Her works have been translated into English, French, Italian and staged in theatres such as Royal Court, Theatre de la Source, and Lugano Teatro in Europe. In 1982, she was awarded a Guggenheim. 

​

Bones for Otto

​

An opera singer, a mother, and a dog walk the fine line between hope and despair.

​

Lia Bugnar is a playwright, screenwriter, director, actress, (stage, film and voice) and Romanian writer.  She was born the 4the of January, 1969 in Bucharest.  She graduated from Institute of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography in 1995.In 1993, she plays first role in the movie Patul Conjugal directed by Mircea Daneliuc.Other notable roles in films: Popcorn Story (2001), Websitestory (2010), Bucuresti NonStop (2015), Octav (2017). 

​

Jason Vikse is a Canadian author and playwright, who, after years of creating stories using nothing but his imagination and superfluous piles of Lego, finally decided to try his hand at writing them down. Whether it works out or not is up to you. He was an early reader, since there wasn't ever much else to do during Canadian winters, but he didn't get into serious writing until his 20s. Jason wrote his first short story in 2008, and has pecked away at the keyboard ever since. He published his first book, The Lazy Postman, in May of 2012, and always has more projects on the go than he probably should. When he isn't writing - which isn't often - he can be found onstage, where he employs other forms of story-telling as a director and actor, mostly in the genre of musical theatre. He has directed or performed in seventeen productions in three countries over the past eight years. ​

​

​

March 23rd @ 2 pm:   54 Silhouettes  by Africa Ukoh  (Nigeria)

                                                                         Directed by Taiwo Afolabi

​

54 Silhouettes

​

Victor Chimezie, a struggling Nigerian actor pursuing big dreams in Hollywood, finally gets the biggest opportunity of his career when his agent Sonny Chuks, lands him a part in a blockbuster action film. There's a big shot producer backing the project and the lead actor is a megastar. It's fame and fortune knocking, everything he and Sonny have bled for over the years. There's only one problem. The movie. Victor comes to discover, is exactly what he swore he would never do again-another "war in Africa" film. Trapped between career ambitions and ideals of his African identity, Victor must decide whether to do the damn film or ditch it.

​

Africa Ukoh is a playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. He describes himself as a constant student of the art and craft of storytelling who loves exploring the human experience for its limitless discoveries. In 2011 he won the first runner-up prize in the BBC African Performance Competition for a radio version of his play 54 Silhouettes. In 2012 the stage version of 54 Silhouettes was awarded the Stratford East/30 Nigeria house prize. In 2018 the play was published in Nigeria by Parresia/Origami books and in the same year performed at NEAP Fest, a theatre festival in Brazil.  Also in 2018 his play Token Dead White Guy was shortlisted in the BBC International Radio Playwriting Competition. He penned the critically acclaimed Nigerian film Green White Green which has featured in various festivals such as the Toronto International Film Festival, the Berlinale International Film Festival, and the New York African Film Festival, and which last year was cataloged into the Harvard University Student Library.

​

Taiwo Afolabi is a theatre director, researcher, and educator from Nigeria. His research focuses on the dynamics of virtual communities. He has worked, toured, researched and led workshops in Denmark, the US, China, and Khartoum, Sudan, Burkina Faso, as well as in his native Nigeria, and worked with the International Theatre Institute. Taiwo is a Queen Elizabeth Scholar and a Graduate Award recipient at the University of Victoria

​