Tw0 plays will make their premiere on the Nicosia stage as of Friday.
The first, Three Tall Women by Edward Albee, will be performed at Theatro Dentro at 8.30pm.
The play, starring Annita Santorinaiou, Stella Fyrogeni, Niovi Charalambous and Giannis Karaoulis, revolves around an old woman who is lying on her deathbed. She is tended to by two women and visited by a young man. None of the characters have names.
The old woman, who is in her 90s, is very thin, very wealthy, and suffering from a mild case of Alzheimer’s. Her caretaker is a 52-year-old woman who is cynical about life. It is clear that she doesn’t enjoy working for the old woman. The second caregiver is 26 years old and is there on behalf of the old woman’s law firm, as the dying woman has some unfinished business. The young man who comes to visit is said to be the son of all three women. He does not have a speaking role but is the subject of much discussion amongst them and often falls out with his mothers.
Through these people’s actions, the way they treat each other and how they view themselves, Albee – the great American playwright who died last September at the age of 88 – shows us that we should enjoy life because it is short. This comes into focus in the final moments of the play, when the three women are talking about the happiest moment in their life and the old woman says “That’s the happiest moment. When it’s all done. When we stop. When we can stop.”
Performances will be on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until January 29
The second play to have its premiere on Friday in Nicosia is How the Other Half Loves by English playwright and director Alan Ayckbourn.
The play, which premiered on the West End in the summer of 1970, brings together the stories of three couples. The one connecting factor is that the men work for the same firm. That is the simple answer, the confusing – and slightly sticky – one is that one of the younger men is having an affair with the wife of the oldest man in the group. When things start to get even more complicated, and the spouses of the individuals having the affair start to get suspicious, they both say that they were at the home of the third couple trying to smooth out their issues.
Both living rooms are shown in the single set, and both share a common dining room which takes on a character of its own as it serves two dinners simultaneously on two different nights. Of course, the third couple have to show up to get things really going. Things get even more complicated and the farce just gets funnier and funnier.
Performances are at 8.30pm on Fridays and Saturday and at 6.30pm on Sundays until February 19.
Three Tall Women
Performance of the drama by Edward Albee. January 13-29. Theatro Dentro, 44 Enotitos Street, Palouriotissa, Nicosia. 8.30pm. €12. In Greek. Tel: 99-384606
How the Other Half Loves
Performance of the comedy by Alan Ayckbourn. January 13 until February 9. Dionysos Theatre, Nicosia. Friday and Saturday: 8.30pm, Sunday: 6.30pm. €15/12/10. In Greek. Tel: 99-621845
