About Us
Cast and Crew Biographies
Andreas Staikos
He was born in Athens. He studied literature at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and theater at the Conservatoire National d’ Art Dramatique in Paris (in Antoine Vitez’s class). He wrote and directed many of his own plays: Daedalus (1971), Clytemnestra? (1974), Karakorum (1989), 1843 (1990), The Little Finger of Olympias (1994), Ostrich Feathers (1994), The Apple of Milos (1996), The Curtain Falls (1999), Kapnokrator (2005), Napoleontia (2007), Alcestis and Sweet Dreams (2012), Thorned Princesses (2018), Hermione (2022), Alifeira (2024), Lela and Lela (2025).
He has translated works by Racine, Molière, Marivaux, Lesage, La Cloche, Musset, Labiche, and Claudel. He wrote the short stories: The Most Wicked Erietta, Dangerous Cooks, Bethsabe, Naughty Girls. His plays have been staged at the National Theater, the NTNG, and the Municipal Regional Theaters of Patras, Larissa, and Kalamata, as well as on European stages: Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Germany, Catalonia, Romania, Italy. His novel Dangerous Cooking has been translated into 30 languages. He has taught theater at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and the University of Patras.
The distinctive approach of Andreas Staikos: directing the writing as it takes shape during rehearsals with the actors, who are co-creators in the writing process. Thus, writing and directing become one; writing gives birth to directing, and directing to writing. As he himself says:
“In all my plays, I started by finding the actors. The actor is the be-all and end-all during the writing process. I need to know the actors, and then I’ll write the roles for them. The role is gradually shaped to fit the actor so that the role meets the actor, and not the actor the role. The actor participates equally in the theatrical creation, offering a large part of his personality, his spirit, his presence, his virtues, and even his flaws. I try to “steal” every one of their strengths or flaws, big or small. I tailor the role to them just as a tailor sews a suit to fit a body.”
She graduated with honors from the Department of Theater at the School of Fine Arts of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2017. She has performed roles in modern Greek plays during their premiere productions: “Destiny” by Akis Dimou, directed by Chrysa Kapsouli (2019), “Metagogi” by Giorgos Veltsos, directed by Chrysa Kapsouli (2020), etc.
A regular collaborator of Andreas Staikos, she has worked with him on the productions: “Hermione” (2022), “Excursion to Ancient Olympia” (2023, and a film directed by Tatiana Lygari), “Alifeira” (2024), “Lela and Lela” (2025–2026).
She has collaborated with the Argo Theater on the productions: “The Shadow of Mart,” directed by Chrysa Kapsouli, and “Night on Earth,” directed by Alexander Cohen (All of Greece, One Culture Hellenistic City of Florina).
She was a member of the National Theater’s Playwriting Studio. She has directed the productions “With Strength from Kifissia” (Monastery of Lazarists) and “Heatwave.” She has translated early Renaissance and medieval texts, sources of inspiration for Shakespeare’s works, which have been published in the literary magazine Chartis. She is the artistic director of the non-profit organization “Spiti Tis,” which she founded in 2018.
Emmanouela Kontogiorgou
Eleni Zarafidou
A top graduate of the State Theater of Northern Greece and a graduate of the Department of Greek Philology at Aristotle University Thessaloniki and A graduate of the Department of Applied Arts at the Hellenic Open University, specializing in photography direction. Since 2009, she has lived and worked in Athens as an actress and director and has collaborated with: the National Theater, the Municipal Theater
of Piraeus, the Athens Festival, the Theater of Neos Kosmos, and others, as well as with
directors: T. Moumoulidis, E. Laskaridis, N. Diamantis, and others. She is a founding member of The 3rd persontheatergroup; from 2018 to 2021, she served as in charge of coordinating the Theater in the New School Program implemented by the National Theater, and since 2021 she has been Curator of the National Theater’s Teenage Stage. She has collaborated with Andreas Staikos on the productions: “Hermione” (2021–2022), “Alifeira” (2024), “Lela and Lela” (2025–2026).
He was born in Cairo in 1952. He made his recording debut in 1978 with “The Gypsy’s Revenge”, an album that shook up the recording industry and is considered to have forever changed the course of folk music in Greece. From 1978 to the present, he has released over 25 albums of music and songs. He has set the works of many poets to music and has collaborated with exceptional lyricists and performers. In theater, he has composed music for Ancient Greek tragedy and modern theater, as well as music for feature films and documentaries. He has performed concerts throughout Greece, in Cyprus, and in countries abroad such as Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Egypt, Australia, and the U.S.
The music he composes draws on his ancestral roots and primarily on a whole Greek world that wandered through places sometimes sacred, sometimes cosmopolitan in the Near East, but also on personal experiences.
Consistent and persistent in his collaborations with lyricists, performers, and musicians. Particular emphasis is placed on the lyrics of the songs, which draw from a rich Greek poetic tradition. This is why, after all, he has been collaborating consistently with Andreas Staikos since 2021 on all his projects, setting his lyrics to music, which are integrated into the dramaturgy of his theatrical works.
Nikos Xydakis