Turning the biblical into political on stage

When it comes to theatre and the summer months, we are used to ancient tales of tragedy. Rarely do we get a taste of something new as the season is drawing to an end and the summer holidays are beckoning. But this year the Cyprus Theatre Organisation (Thoc) is going against the norm and will bring to its stage for the first time on our island the comedy Mistero Buffo by Nobel Prize winning playwright Dario Fo.

The play, which will be directed by Kostas Gakis, is recognised as one of the most controversial and popular spectacles in post-war European theatre and its broadcast in Italy prompted the Vatican to denounce it as “the most blasphemous show in the history of television.”

Written in 1969, Mistero Buffo is a series of brief monologues with Biblical themes, drawn from the Biblical apocrypha and popular tales of the life of Christ. The performance texts are in a mixture of Italian, dialect and grammelot – a constructed dialect that draws on, and mixes up, regional languages.

The play will be in Greek and the performance on June 27 will be accompanied with English and Turkish subtitles. After three performances in Nicosia, the performance – which will begin at 9pm and have a ticket price of €6 and €12 – will move to Paphos, Limassol, Larnaca and Deryneia.

Mistero Buffo
Performance of the comedy by Dario Fo. June 22,23 and 27. Makarios III Amphitheatre, 28th October Street, Acropoli, Nicosia. 9pm. €6/12. In Greek. Tel: 77-772717
July4-5. Paphos Ancient Odeon
July 12-13. Municipal Gardens Theatre, Limassol
July 18. Pattichion Municipal Amphitheatre, Larnaca
July 25. Deryneia Municipal Amphitheatre

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.