By Maria-Nefeli Andredaki,
Last week’s Saturday found me desperately searching for last-minute theatre tickets. That is how I stumbled upon George Kapoutzidis’ latest play, called “The Caryatid!” («Η Καρυάτιδα!»). As much as I love my classics and tend to attend Shakespeare adaptations most of the time, Kapoutzidis is one of my “auto-buy” artists, in the sense that I trust him completely to provide amazing work, in whatever form. So, having secured the last ten-euro ticket in the theatre, I made my way towards Athens REX, with no clue what I was about to experience.
Trying not to spoil anything is quite difficult, since a central and shocking part of the play, that basically sets the tone for everything that follows, happens from the very first act. What you can definitely know is that it all starts in the office of the Greek minister of culture. It is expressed that this minister is uneducated and evidently unfit for her position, for which her secretary is better suited. How did she manage to get into office? Apparently, she is friends with the leader of the far-right party that managed to rise to power. As is comically added, she is the sister-in-law of the most successful drag dealer of the Balkans.
The whole point of the play was to satirize the inability of right-wing leaders to act in favor of the people, even if it is the people who elected them. It exposes their greed, apathy, and lust for power and creates specific parallels to current political figures in our parliament. With the “magic cream seller” far-right leader who thinks he is a patriot, the “influencer” prime-minister who acts like a little boy and the highly uncultured minister of culture, we have a recipe leading to national destruction.
The play is nothing if not political. In an interview, the playwright had this to say:
“It talks a lot about the political life of the country and about the people who lie to us in this political life, pretending to be something when in reality, they are not. There are many who pretend to love their country very much, while the reality is that they are indifferent to it. There are many who pretend to be extremely religious and the best Christians –and they are not. This either infuriates you when you see people mocking you to your face and calling you immoral, or if you take a sudden reverse turn in your brain, you can laugh a lot at them. And fortunately, I had this reverse turn and I laugh a lot at all these people who pretend to be very patriotic and very Christian, who usually come from a specific political space, I think.”
An important point for the plot that is not so “spoilery”, is that our stolen, beloved sixth Caryatid is returned to her home country. This is conveyed as an incredible feat, managed by the governing far-right party, which convinced the British to bring back the Parthenon marbles.
The Parthenon marbles, often falsely called “Elgin Marbles”, are a collection of ancient Greek sculptures that were stolen from their birthplace by Thomas Bruce, Earl of Elgin. At the time, Greece was under ottoman occupation and the Earl was given permission from ottoman officials to ship the marbles to Britain. The legality of this action has been the topic of a long conversation, in an attempt to return these ancient artworks to their home country. Melina Merkouri and Amal Alamuddin are two notable women who have fought in their own ways to succeed in this battle.
I would highly urge you to go see the performance! You will laugh and simultaneously be terrified at the reality of our current political state. Then, you will laugh some more, because this is Kapoutzidis we’re talking about.
Reference
- Ο Γιώργος Καπουτζίδης μιλάει στο ελc για τον επαναπατρισμό της «Καρυάτιδας!» στο Εθνικό Θέατρο με νέο έργο επί σκηνής. Ελculture. Available here
