Dialegmenos is considered one of the most well-known modern theatrical writers in Greece and recently has been awarded the prestigious Karolos Koun Prize for his play “Bella Venezia” (2006).

Ioanna Katsarou, the play’s director, is also an actress who lives and works in Thessaloniki. She graduated from The National Drama School of Northern Greece and she is a founding member of Aktis Aeliou Theater in Thessaloniki.

Regarding “Mammy, mother, mom”, “the action takes place in a Greek middle class home,” Katsarou explained. “The old mother (Foteini) is ill and stuck in a wheel chair but that does not stop her from dominating the lives of her sons and daughters-in-law, who try secretly to shut her away in an elderly care institution.”

The conflicts, emotional tensions, and a string of ludicrous events combined with the fact that all the characters are saturated by a vitriolic humour gives to the play the style of an original Greek tragicomedy.

At the end of the play all the characters will collapse in a domino like effect. First the old mother, because she prefers a glorious death than to be separated from her sons. Then, her son Memas who falls at his mother’s feet screaming “mother, mammy, mama… I won’t leave you.” Finally his wife Varvara, who gets to realize the weakness of her husband, and her fate as her mother’s-in-law nurse and keeper.

“The play is about human relationships that lead to a morass of confusion, but in my opinion, the play has more perspectives,” Katsarou points out. “The mother is a symbol of the dark past of Greek history, synonymous with conservatism and regression. The sons are symbols of the new Greek middle class that tries to find its identity. The result is a bad imitation of the western style of life that makes them look ridiculous. The New Greeks are confused in front of this passage to Time and to Space. To Time, because of their relationship with their history. To Space, because of their geographical position in the edge of Europe and their contradictory relationship with the West and East. At the end of the play the son collapses into his mother’s feet acting as a small boy. This act symbolizes the disability of the Greek nation to ablactate from the past and move forward.”

It sounds very dramatic, but “these aspects of the play are emphasized through the filter of humour. During the performance, the viewers will laugh a lot, but also turn a critical eye within themselves and that is the most important function of the play.’’

Cast: Christos Alexandridis, Giannis Amouris, Louiza Papazaxarias, Christina Siapkara, Christina Stefanidis.

For more info and tickets the Greek Cultural Center’s phone number is (718) 726-7329