Sir,
I have often heard Cypriots and many foreigners complain about Cyprus’ lack of cultural options and how the island lacks entirely any breath of culture.
OK, this is no London’s West End nor Broadway but I think the Ministry of Culture has been doing a phenomenal job with the yearly Kypria Festival – particularly this year!
They have brought an amazingly diverse array of options with top quality names and unforgettable performances. The Brothers Karamazov ballet from Russia was a performance one could easily have paid £100 to watch at the Covent Garden or the Metropolitan without blinking an eye twice. Here we paid €25! Yet, I am surprised to see that not all seats are taken…
Where are all those that complain about the lack of culture? Are they all in the audience taking advantage of the top quality performances the festival has been showering us?
I don’t think so. Somehow, it is always easier to just complain and even worst, take what you have for granted and not give the right value to what you can get locally just because it is here!
Somehow the grass is always greener… Is any show that plays abroad really better than anything that we can go and see at Strovolos Theatre with easy and free parking?
It sure sounds better to say, “I saw this fantastic ballet while in London,” instead of “You should not miss the Kypria events this year…” and admitting that the local Ministry of Culture did a wonderful job in supplying us with top quality performances.
Granted, the Kypria Festival runs for only two months but still, there is a lot that they have offered in this time and this year the artists are top-notch. while performances have been chosen to cover a diverse interest range from opera, to tap dancing, to classical and modern ballet.
I do, however, have a few suggestions. Unfortunately I am not a wealthy person and my entertainment budget does not allow for me to afford attending all the performances I deem “must-see”.
I think we should emulate what other countries do in these cases and offer “season” tickets – have some sort of subscriber package that when and if one purchases more tickets, the prices would decrease.
If you want tickets for 5-8-or 10 events, for example, prices would diminish on a per ticket basis. This is done not only throughout Europe but also in the US. I really don’t think the prices are unfair but given the Festival’s two-month concentration, it becomes unviable to buy all the tickets one wants in such a short amount of time.
Perhaps ticket prices could diminish even further if the catalogue were not so fancy and printed in such high quality paper. Another option would be to allow for sales of “last minute”, cheaper tickets instead of having the seats empty.
I am tired of hearing people complaining about Cyprus and Cypriots. Enjoy this island. It has a lot to offer. It’s all a matter of your attitude towards your own life and if you can see the glass half full instead of it being always being half empty. You will get a lot more out of life and out if Cyprus! Go on, hurry and buy some tickets to the Kypria Festival!
Monica Gavrielides
Strovolos, Nicosia
(Ed’s note: there are some cultural organisations in Cyprus that offer discounted or season tickets, among them: The Ledra Soloists and The Pharos Trust offers discounted tickets to members)
