“City Lights” lit up with its magic and splendor the brilliance of the “other” romantic musical, the “Marika Kotopoulis” stage in the Rex Theater, and gave the modern public an almost fabulous experience. The performance is a silent, tender and nostalgic recollection of the artistic experience of the past, distinguished by a rare cinematic miniature from the many aesthetically grandiose and often exaggerated modern musical arrangements of old films of the domestic theater system.

Charlie Chaplin made City Lights (1931) when film producers were heavily involved in the emerging talking cinema. The film, subtitled “A Romantic Comedy in Pantomime”, is based on the economic, social and political collapse of the American stock markets, and as a theme is the odyssey of a wandering tramp who fights in every way for money that will give him sight in the blind flower seller in which he in love. Amalia Bennett, Nikita Milivojevic and Todoris Oikonomou used the original script structure and choreographer Am. Bennett staged an ensemble performance in which all scenographic, musical and interpretive forces are equally emphasized. He retained the black-and-white cinematic aesthetic of the silent film and used materials from the genre such as “gags”, pantomime, live music on stage, body language and facial expressions as acting and acting techniques.

The director correctly solved the equation of turning the classical method “theater within the theater” into a kind of “cinema within the theater”. He realized the original idea of ​​filming sound rather than talking cinema as part of a theatrical performance. Thus, the performance is “filmed” in a film studio and is a real stage achievement, a bittersweet apotheosis of the musical, this complex and charming kind of theater with music. Todoris Oikonomou (music), Tina Tsoka (set) and Amalia Bennett (choreography) silenced such a dynamic musical, dance, visual and interpretive spectacle. The alternation of stunning scenery, combined with sound, light and motion effects, created an exciting role-playing game, an atmosphere of foreboding and melancholy, when the viewer indulges in a dizzying flow and succession of images, scenes and shots.

Procopius Agathocles is a revelation as the beggar Charlie Chaplin.

Procopius Agathocles is a revelation in the role of a beggar Chaplin, who pretends to be rich in front of a blind girl. Motionless, melancholic, sweet, gentle and desperate. The interpretation of Agathocles conveyed with the acting intelligence of the genius Chaplin, in a harmonious combination of comic and dramatic elements. He played a hero distinguished by chivalrous kindness to women, disinterestedness and generosity, a timeless form of a humanist. I highlight Agathocles’ Kinesian delusions in the ring scene when, in a desperate attempt to get money for surgery, he enters a boxing match, appears in the ring in a jacket and in slow motion does the most ballet, dance and comic boxing ever staged on the stage. The momentary transition of the actor’s body from one strong sensation to another, especially in the scene where the angel holds a bucket and showers it with rose petals, is undoubtedly one of the most important moments of the performance.

Hector Ligizos excels as a millionaire who befriends a bum when he’s drunk and doesn’t recognize him when he’s sober. Of particular interpretive value is his acting, as well as his ability to transform in terms of appearance, movements, grimaces and various facial expressions. Delicate, sensitive and almost porcelain Alexandra Aidini, as a blind girl, idolized the technique of pantomime with her graceful movement and physical interpretation. Savina Jannatu’s song either aptly or inappropriately interrupts the narrative flow of frames-theatrical scenes, and Yvonne Maltezu’s performance as the blind girl’s grandmother adds significant details that clarify psychological situations. The final, magical, wonderful and touching finale of the silent story under the full moon, with the “city lights” going out and the dramatic Charlo left alone with his loneliness.

Ms. Rhea Grigoriou holds a PhD in History and Drama from AUTH and Professor of Greek Culture at EAP.