Looking forward for the pandemic to be over so you can see your young creative back on stage? No need to wait! A novel project bringing together Greek-speaking kids from three countries aspires to facilitate alternative theatre performances with listeners instead of audience.
We learn more about the initiative from Katerina Poutachidou, coordinator of the Creative Drama and Arts Centre of the Greek Community of Melbourne, representing Australia in the project.
Co-organisers are the Theatrical Cultural Artistic Centre “Poupoulo” in Greece and the “Motivation in Arts Foundation” in Cyprus.
“The idea originated from educators in Cyprus and Thessaloniki upon realising they could not present the plays they had prepared with the children [due to the coronavirus],” says Ms Poutachidou.
Any theatre group can participate, as long as they are perform in Greek.
Children and teens are invited to perform audio roles in plays, myths and fairy-tales “in front of a microphone” recording their texts on a phone with the educator then taking up the task to collate the pe-recorded theatrical texts, marry them with sound and put them in order to produce the final result.
Ms Poutachidou credits this experimental method for providing an opportunity to children and teenagers to discover the world of acoustic plays “manipulating their voice in the same way they would if they were on stage”.
Participating theatre plays will be aired on radio stations across the three countries, while it is worth noting that in Australia both younger generation Greek Australians and newly arrived Greeks are invited to take part in the initiative.
The 1st online encounter for the groups to meet and exchange notes will take place on Sunday 17 May.
Prospective participants can express their interest sending the play’s material via email by 24 May 2020 to theatre@greekcommunity.com.au
