In connection with today’s publication of “K” about the resignations of the members of the Board of Directors of the Artistic Theater “Karolos Koun” and the management of the Theater School of Drama (Resignations and the Crisis in the Artistic Theatre), we received and published a letter from the school’s professor Giannis Lignadis, in which he states that the the resignations were methodical, with the aim of dissolving the council and “destabilizing” artistic director Marianna Kalbaris. “In order to achieve a fraudulent plan to dissolve the Art Theater and its School, my cause (demonization tactics) and the leverage of students, up to the current discrediting of the School, were the necessary leverage,” he says. .

As a reminder, the stalemate at the Art Theater began in August last year, when students allegedly demanded that Mr. Lignadis be removed from the faculty over his remarks about the trial of his brother Dimitris Lignadis. The case was referred to the Board of Trustees but was not upheld as the objections to his suspension were not related to his work at the drama school.

Mr. Lignadis’ letter is quoted in full below.

On 02/26/23, an article was published on the “tvxs” website about what is happening in the theater studio of the Art Theater, in which it is almost exclusively about me as a teacher there. The article, written rather “on order”, presents me as the main culprit in the resignations of the director of the theater studio TD. (M. Papadimitriou), but also members of the Board of Directors of the theater (M. Papadimitriou, K. Kapelonis), resignations, which dealt a blow to the already overcrowded field of artistic space. The publication also contains interviews with the resigned director of the School of Theater Arts (MP) and two anonymous students (denoted as F1 and F2!). A largely false and slanderous publication against me was immediately reproduced by related toxicographic media (20/20 Mag., Left.gr), the famous “Lignadomach” hound of contractors and who left in a bit of a llama of a gold-bearing TV show in order to “competently” devote himself to the struggle for “artistic cleansing.”

The reader should read the aforementioned vile edition not only in order to reflect on the question of the vile pathogenesis of “art education”, but – above all – in order to understand the identity of the concerted “arsonists” of the suffering artistic space (and Culture in a broader sense), their ultimate goals and behind-the-scenes methods of work. To the apparently militant, if not fascist, spirit to which the content of the publication in question is subject, I now oppose my own arguments based on the following facts.

In mid-August 22 (during the summer holidays!) I was informed of an unsigned letter, allegedly written by students of the Drama School addressed to the director, with a request to expel me from the school. It should be noted that I have been teaching at the TT School continuously since 2001, i.e. for over twenty one years. I also note that the reasons given by anonymous editors had nothing to do with educational, pedagogical or moral issues, but were uncritically accepted false, malicious and effective slanders on my personality. At a meeting with the leaders of the School (M. Papadimitriou, K. Capeloni), after they informed me about the demands of the students, and I, in turn, informed them that I did not intend to resign (for obvious reasons… ), I suggested that, if they found these demands reasonable, proceed with my dismissal, paying legal compensation. The decision makers countered that the TT Board of Directors overseeing the School (of which both are members) had already decided that there were no grounds for dismissal as the issue did not arise. Therefore, it was jointly agreed, as a one-way street, that I would take over teaching duties for the current year. In order to save money (of course, all the relevant written documents are available), I limit myself to mentioning that due to an unjustified delay, due to the improper performance of the duties of director M. Papadimitriou, my classes began in mid-December, that is, two months after the start school year! And students – of all three courses – from the very first day were absent from the courses everywhere without any written reason. Thus, from the day I assumed my duties until now, year A’ attended a total of two (2) courses (!), B’ and C’ one (1) course (!), while how the director did not receive any appropriate initiative, did not take measures, did not initiate the proper procedures, as required by the role of the director of educational work of higher education and primary teaching and pedagogical practice. And all this against the backdrop of public debates about the advanced training and diplomas of students of the theater school! In the meantime, I leave the conclusions about the mess to the reader …

In the Letter of Resignation from the Office of the Directorate (a monument to the inconsistency and abuse of the Greek language), the deputy, referring to the reasons that led her to such a decision, does not mention my question anywhere (except for an unofficial accompanying document). However, in her “tvxs” interview, among bitter comments mixed with sympathy from a medical student, she names me as the main reason for her dismissal because of my supposedly “unresolved” issue (!!!); a question that he and K. Kapelonis did not solve, not because they could not, but because they did not want to, simply because his decision was not in their interests. This squalor, led by two retired “witnesses” of the “super-party” “struggle”, that is, personal pursuits and suppressed artistic ambitions, I will try to uncover in the future.

An announcement issued by the SEH board of directors (February 27, 2023), (biased as always) in favor of two retired people whom it gives a bountiful blessing. However, the well-intentioned reader cannot know what is well known to SEH: as a “triple” entity, MP (simultaneously board member of the Art Theater, board member of the SEH, director and teacher of the Drama School T.T.) it goes without saying that everything she does, it does in complete harmony and synergy with the SHH (Operation of Communicating Containers); that is, it may even be the author of the Announcement who (I) praise him! Easy at first. After all, the “triple state” was from the beginning the cause of the confusion that generally characterized her short managerial tenure, as she seemed to indiscriminately confuse theater education with theater activism, and artistic management with artistic unionism.

As for the Kapelonis case, the “sensitive” SEC probably knows that since 2016, when he was removed by the teaching department, when the overwhelming majority of students demanded and achieved his removal from the faculty due to inadequacy and inadequacy (currently I do not want to expand, there are , however, the corresponding written evidence), he can only perform behind-the-scenes actions and, although he was demoted, the Directorate of the Art Theater (that is, partly himself!) decided to place him in the position of Legal Representative of the Theater School !!! Light second.

The resignations of M. Papadimitriou and K. Kapelonis from the board of the Art Theater were neither “combat” nor “witness”, but, on the contrary, a methodical “strategic” move, which, in my opinion, aims to dissolve the board. Artistic Theatre, the removal of the artistic director (M. Kalbari) and the appointment of a new leadership, thanks to the SEC, and the re-election of the same to key positions with extended terms. In order to achieve the fraudulent plan to dissolve the Art Theater and its School, my work (demonization tactics) and the leverage of the students, up to the current humiliation of the School, was the necessary leverage.

Final conclusions: a) Everyone has the right to dream of his boss as the successor of the great Karl (even if he considers him his reincarnation), as long as he backs up his claims honestly and truly valuable, and not offstage actions and allied crutches . b) Pilot M. Papadimitriou and the “non-existent” Kapelonis are solely responsible for the destruction of the School and the Art Theater. c) The present of art education is really painful, and the future looks extremely ominous. While drama students are squatting on the streets, “on the uneven bars” and risking losing a year, some tutors and tutors who sell them fumara visions and train them rub their hands, signing fresh secret contracts; and the “Good Man of Sei-cho-lan”, stepping on their backs, calmly collects the sparkling silver.

This is so far…

Yiannis Lignadis (Doctor of Theatre)