Mike Kenny's adaptation of Scheherazade, one of the most enduring examples of world literature, is currently playing at the National Theatre of Greece, and runs until 12 April.
“Long, long ago and far, far away, in a land that never was, is not and never will be, lived a great Sultan…”. Wounded and disappointed, every night he marries a new wife and every dawn he puts her to death. However, everything changes when he marries Scheherazade, the daughter of his faithful vizier, who is also perhaps the finest storyteller of all time. And so it is, that night after night, the same demand is heard in the palace: “Tell me a story”.
The story is brought to life on stage as a dozen courtiers and the sultan’s quirky band ingeniously use every means at their disposal to tell stories about war and love, evil wizards and hilarious buffoons, fear and laughter, monsters and heroes, magic carpets and winged horses, and giants and clowns. A mosaic made up of comedy and cartoons, music and beautiful sets and costumes inspired by the mythical East creates a unique story that in turn contains many smaller stories within it.
More info can be found here.
Walking the Tightrope
Another of his productions, Walking the Tightrope (translated for Greek theatre as A Summer of Summer) is playing at the Municipal Theatre of Pireaus, also until 12 April. It is a poetic work that deals tenderly with the issue of loss, changes in life, and how reconciliation with these changes redefines us.
At the end of summer Ellie goes on vacation to her grandparents' house near the sea. This summer, however, is different from the previous ones. Ellie arrives at the cottage and discovers that her grandmother is not there. Grandpa can't find the words to tell her grandma's gone. So, the grandfather invents a fantasy world to explain to his granddaughter the grandmother's absence. But why did Grandma leave her umbrella behind? And now who's going to make her famous cake? And most importantly how would she look without her glasses?
More info can be found here.