“The Portrait Gallery of Dolts” by Nikos Tsiforos
DIRECTED BY: Andromachi Chrysomali
VENUE: Lazaristes Monastery - Sokratis Karantinos Stage
OPENING: 30 December 2022
DURATION: 105 min (including interval)
A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE PLAY
Nikos Tsiforos wrote “The Portrait Gallery of Dolts” in 1944 and it was premièred by Dimitris Horn and Mary Aroni’s theatre company. The play was a great success, with critics hailing it as a “wonderful comedy” and focusing on the playwright's clever dialogue, humour and skill.
The experiment of Josiah Terrington, a rich man who wants to prove that “stupidity is lodged in even the most intelligent of heads”, becomes the occasion for a great love affair. Alinda and Andreas, two impoverished young people, are the heirs of a distant uncle they never knew existed. On their journey to take possession of their enormous inheritance, they meet and fall in love. However, the dead uncle seems to have had different plans for the two of them. Will he succeed in proving that self-interest is Man’s only driving force? And if “human stupidity is so vast, it barely fits into infinity”, what role do love and emotions play in all this? And how much truth can fit into the hearts of these two “stupid” young people?
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
“The trick is being able to laugh”, says Nikos Tsiforos in his first play “The Portrait Gallery of Dolts”. And we want to laugh and sail with him upon the indigo ocean waves, beneath clear skies. To dream again of a new life, a new love, a passion pure. Of escaping reality and chasing the dream, the elusive dream—because that’s where true life, real life, lies: in the Dream.
The adventure.
This is how our “journey” begins! Aboard a ship!
This is where Love and Money will be pitted one against the other. Love versus “Looking after Number One”.
A performance in which the audience are our fellow passengers on a romantic voyage upon the high seas. But observers, too, of a peculiar and eccentric experiment. With much loved music and songs from the old-time American cinema.
Love or Money?
The choice is yours.
So let us, too, embark and experience the Dream adventure.
Weigh anchor—let’s be on our way! The steamer’s horn is blowing!
A new generation of actors brimming over with talent, fun and vitality joins forces with the NTNG’s company of older, experienced actors in this romantic comedy by Nikos Tsiforos. Together, they will treat audiences to a delightful production full of music, dance, laughter and song, with oneiric landscapes within the exquisite virtual environment (3D Video Projection Mapping) designed by Stathis Mitsios, wonderful costumes and sets by Alexandra Siafkou and Telis Karananos, atmospheric lighting by Giannis Toumpas, and imaginative choreography created by Ioanna Mitsika.
Andromachi Chrysomali
CREDITS
Director - Dramaturgical processing - Music supervising - Sound design: Andromachi Chrysomali, Sets - Costumes: Alexandra Siafkou, Aristotelis Karananos, Lighting: Ioannis Toumpas, Movement: Ioanna Mitsika, Video Art: Stathis Mitsios, Assistant to the director: Vangelis Mageiros, Mara Tsikara, Assistant to the set - costumes designer: Danai Pana, Second assistant to the director: Christina Zacharof, Production Coordinator: Athanasia Androni
Cast: Lila Vlachopoulou (Alinda), Momo Vlachou (Singer), Lefteris Dimiropoulos (Andreas), Thanasis Dislis (Narrator, Giacomo), Christina Zacharof (Cecile), Lefteris Litharis (Gaspar, Born), Lilian Palantza (Woman on the boat), Roula Pantelidou (Madeleine, Tzamafou), Vasilis Spyropoulos (Man on the boat), Giorgos Sfyridis (Plim, Lex), Stergios Tzaferis (Juan, Terrington)
Μusician: Panagiotis Barlas