A play about crime, punishment, trauma, justice on the theme of the murder of a father by his child – one of the most shocking crimes in the history of mankind – “The Other Thebes” by the French-Uruguayan Sergio Blanco, staged at the Theater of the New World (ThtNK).

Why did Vangelis Theodoropoulos decide to tackle this issue at a time when the list of femicides is growing? “I was interested in the topic of patricide, because, unlike femicide, which is a nightmarish everyday occurrence, a boy rarely kills his father,” the director and founder of ThtNK tells K, emphasizing that relationships with parents also hide the conflict within them. “In order for a young man to step on his feet, we say that he must “kill” his father in himself. The father-son relationship is competitive on both sides. I lived it. And I found my own thoughts, feelings of guilt, mistakes in a play written by a writer who grew up in Montevideo.

The story begins with a writer-director visiting a prison to see 21-year-old Martin convicted of parricide. Through his encounters with the lifer, the author wants to write a play about parricide to be staged at the San Martin Theater in Buenos Aires with himself and the parricide as performers. However, the Ministry of Justice forbids Martin to play in the play, so the author tries Federico, a new actor, for the role of a parricide in the theater.

The play The Other Thebes, translated by Maria Hadjiemmanuel on October 20 with Thanos Lekka and Dimitris Kapooranis, presents the author’s encounters with the prisoner as well as with Federico (whom Blanco chooses to interpret by the same actor). “The interesting thing is that even though they talk about rehearsals all the time, rehearsals never happen. This guy is single, he doesn’t hang out with anyone in prison. All his meetings with the writer take place on the prison basketball court. It’s like a cage with a basketball. It also became the setting for the show. It is essential that some person is dealing with young Izovit, whom his father constantly spoiled.

A work on male identity that explores the process of fiction in relation to real life, touching on issues such as patriarchy, class differences, mental illness, the role of religion, erotica, among others. Mocking the line between truth and lies. For V. Theodoropoulos, it is interesting that “the transition of an actor from one role to another (Martin and Federico) occurs without any disguise. The theme of parricide with references to Oedipus, who killed his father Lai and the Karamazov brothers, is illuminated in the course of the play through Martin’s painful experiences, insults, humiliations and violence to which he was subjected from his father-beast, elements that make us If not justify, then at least understand the behavior of the young man. The relationship that arose between the writer and the parricide marks the life of a young man, because it opens his horizons and leaves a bright crack in his mind and soul. However, it also tests the senior’s confidence.”

If, as Theodoropoulos claims, The Other Thebes prompts us to look at our relationship to our children and our father, then what was the relationship with his own father?

“I thought he didn’t love me because he wasn’t involved with me at all, which is what my mother did. When he died, I began to think more about him, and then I realized that what I interpreted as indifference was tact. He never laid a hand on me when I was a child, which was common in my generation. He didn’t even look at what I was doing. But it also traumatizes children. He was not strict with me and tenderness was up to three or four years. Then the fathers left, and the mother remained. A woman of my generation took over.”

She remembers how he worked late at Hippocrates’ street shop. “When I went, he did not ask about the lessons and did not insist on anything. And that’s when, because we had more siege and our mother’s love, we interpreted it as a lack of interest. Growing up, I saw that it was a life position on his part, freely choosing my path. It was precious because I got up early. Relationship with mother is closer. There are caresses and hugs. And the father shows his love, but slowly moves away and reaches out to caress not a 20-year-old or 30-year-old son, but, on the contrary, a son to his father. It’s not that they don’t need it, but a deeper “don’t” haunts them. They do not say words of love, but the son will say to his mother: “I love you, mother.” All of these are traumas for a large percentage of men.”

Did his parents feel the same way when he announced he was going to be an actor, or did they react? “No, they didn’t respond and I admit that I was upset because they didn’t stop me, as was expected of parents in those years. I said to myself “such indifference!”. They didn’t get in my way.”

This affected his relationship with his son. “I have been very attached to him since he was born. It was a time when Coralia (Sotiriadu) had a lot of work and my profession had a lot of unemployment. So instead of going to a bar and whining and blaming others, I took Milto and we left. In adolescence, which did not pass at 16, and later, there was competition from both sides. In recent years, he headed this theater. As happens in other professions, when a father gives his work to his son, I sometimes caught myself thinking: “I could do it better.”

Sometimes he complained to him, he admits, “but because we are a close-knit family, all three of us managed to work in this theater and, above all, coexist with our opposites. I am glad that Miltos works out seven days a week with his sons. Now, as a grandfather, I want to see my grandchildren every day, and I can walk away from any rehearsal if necessary to keep them for myself. Staying with grandchildren is a more serious job than doing theater.

“Grants for contemporary culture are a reality, not a vision”

After Sergio Blanco’s work, Vangelis Theodoropoulos will stage Pantelis Bukala’s Cheek of the Virgin on February 15, 2023. “Pantelis, friend and collaborator, has adapted his theatrical autobiographical speculation (Agra editions) especially for the Theater of the New World, for two actors who will play the roles of Karaiskakis and his life partner and weapon, Marios. He found little Turkopoulas after the disaster in Tripoli and, since he could not have a woman in his army, he dressed her as a man and named her Zafiris.

In April, he will stage Ella Papadimitriou’s The Orient, which was presented for only two days in ancient Tiryns in the summer in the context of “All Greece is culture”. In total, on its three stages, the National Theater of Culture is presenting 16 performances (and joint productions) this year, one of them at the Theater. Kyarezi. In the competitive season, which may exceed 3,000 performances, as evidenced by the first discussions in theaters.

“We want to make theater. In two years everyone wants to work.” They will do it; “No, not all theaters work. This season is a mystery. People want to go out, some will wear a mask, others will not be around them, but they will learn to coexist. It’s not life to lock yourself up and leave everything.” As for the increase in electricity and heating, “everything is very difficult. The grants for modern culture given by the Ministry of Culture are pennies. It’s not a vision if they think that’s how they support civilization. Vision, unfortunately, is missing.