Now that schools have opened and summer has moved into the past tense – as Giorgos Dialegmenos says in the “Night of the Owl” that we repeat in Bios – along with the first school bell, the first alarm clock of the year rang. The usual morning rush to school. Our ten-year-old daughter and four-year-old son enter the yard and our day begins.

This is the total time we spend together. It’s coffee time, we go for a run and organize the rest of the day. The need to focus on the important and beautiful, summer interest rings the bell. Our joy to return to the Night of the Owl is great. When the spring cycle of performances ended, all of us in the cast were sure that the show was not over yet. A shared walk to the destination via Philopappos Hill is a must.

This is where our paths diverge. Despina studies the Alexander technique at the school of Vikis Panagiotakis. This exploration requires dedication and a technique that opens the way for the body, spirit and perception of things. The way technique is connected to the theater worries Despina a lot. Dimitris is usually at this time in Exarchia at the New Greek Theater school of Giorgos Armenis, where he has been teaching acting for the past few years. Communication with students is refreshing. On Saturdays at this time, we have the teachings of our workshops, which for many years have been a very important area for the study and application of theatrical material. This year, for the first time, we are organizing the Neighborhood Theater, a children’s troupe that will perform in public places in our neighborhood and beyond.

“We are constantly working in the hope that we can continue to create in the theater, although the reality is difficult for artists.”

This is family time. We will try to be together so that we have time for each other. The kids really need this. Their time with us is priceless, it recharges them and our batteries. They prefer not to talk about work, although after so many years in theaters, Kira has developed a great curiosity and interest in her, and Lambros still cannot understand what exactly mom and dad are doing.

Rehearsal time. One of these days, Despina needs to go to master classes at the Faculty of Theater Studies. Great professors and fellow students give hope that academic experience can be truly rewarding. We read and watch the video from the material. We discuss our concerns about how The Chosen One’s work will communicate with audiences today, 20 years after it was first uploaded by Lefteris Vogiatzis.

Rehearsal time. Although the performance is repeated, the process is alive. There are changes, new perspectives that we have to explore until the show meets the audience again. We are waiting for Mr. Chosen to rehearse in the coming days. The contact with him from the first moment we asked him for the job and he accepted is invaluable. It was really a great joy that evening when he watched our performance and his warm words hugged us. His warmth and humor give us strength. Our dear friend Viki Katsika will join us in this new series of performances. It’s nice to give partners and get them back to us. It is very important to create honest relationships and maintain meaningful communication, even if it can be difficult at times, because rehearsal is an explosive process, as we all experience trials and challenges in it. However, there is always a benefit from the meeting, and it is magical when real communication is achieved with the viewer and with what we have created together. This is where the theater takes place, this is where we all experience the performance. Although the performance is repeated, the premier’s anxiety remains the same. At this difficult time of the year, the audience responded warmly. He came to the theater, and it was a relief and a real joy for us after a two-year break due to the coronavirus. A Borges quote always comes to mind: “People will always need to tell and listen to stories.”

It’s time to relax. After a rehearsal or performance it is difficult to slow down, because it is a lively and intense process, because it is connected with people, with words, with anxieties, with what, in the end, concerns all of us. We are constantly working in the hope that we can continue to create in the theater, although the reality for artists is difficult. We will continue to desire and work for change.