Young people from different cultures have the opportunity to learn about theatre, to express their ideas and talk about their experiences. That is what the Theatre of Integration is all about and I wrote about it in the newspaper’s 7th issue.
Petros Pitsounis had the wonderful idea of creating a project for people from all over the world that would allow young individuals from different countries to communicate with one another and learn about each other’s culture.
On May 5th and 6th, the actors of Integration gave their very best in a performance at Argo Theatre, which was considered hugely successful.
At the end of the show, many people came up to us to congratulate us and say how much they had enjoyed it. Many of them wanted to see it again. It was because so many people turned up that we ended up giving a second performance.
The original director was Giorgos Kaloxilos who taught us much about the theatre. He was obliged to resign for personal reasons at the rehearsal stage, but I still remember his words, which were really encouraging. He told us that an actor becomes an actor from the moment he first steps onto a stage and that an actor can do anything. Even after he left, all the actors thought of him with great fondness.
His place was taken by Zoe Santa, a psychiatrist, actor and stage director, with whom we worked on Aristophanes’ “The Birds”. There was a lot of interest in the production and at the end, I asked to interview her.
Najaf: Tell us about yourself, how did you become involved in theatre?
Zoe: My parents loved the theatre and because they could not afford a baby-sitter, they took me with them to plays. And so, I saw famous Greek actors who are now part of the history of the theatre and also a large part of Greek culture. For me the theatre is second nature and a second home. I first went on stage when I was nine years old. Becoming a director was for me like discovering an exciting new game and I directed my first play at 11. I went to Delos acting school and in 2004, I got my degree in drama from the Ministry of Culture. In those days, there was no separate theatre academy so that was how I started to act and direct professionally. I have met a lot of people at the Theatre of Integration who are seriously interested in theatre. In fact, I decided to rename it “New Life (Nea Zoe)”, a new name of my own!
As the director said, it is natural for someone to want to tell a story, most people need to do it. Theatre allows you to do this through music, dance or any other art form it may include. Finally, language is not a barrier, as can be seen from the fact that people from seven different countries gave two wonderful performances at the Theatre of Integration.
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