Monday 8 February 2016

Oloi Ena, Fila me, with Stamatis Kraounakis



Oloi Ena, Fila Me (All for One, Kiss Me), Stamatis Kraounakis




at the Michalis Cacoyannis Foundation.

The non-profit foundation was set up by Cakoyannis himself in 2003 with the aim of supporting, preserving and promoting the arts of theatre and cinema.



Anthony Quinn and Alan Bates in Zorba the Greek

A Greek Cypriot filmmaker, Cacoyannis is best known for his 1964 film Zorba the Greek, a film that celebrated joie de vivre and which had an underlying pessimism and the echo of a Greek tragedy.





He made 15 feature films which included Trojan women with Katherine Hepburn, Vanessa Redgrave and Irini Papas. He was however primarily interested in the theatre where he not only directed, but also wrote, designed costumes, produced and translated dozens of plays.  He also directed opera productions in many of the world's great opera houses. He was devoted to Greek classical drama and directed many of Euripides' plays for the cinema and theatre.

During the six years of the military junta in Greece he went into voluntary exile: 'I could not have stayed in Greece, I would have ended up in prison because I speak up', he explained.




He died at the age of 90 in a non-cemetery burial, in the courtyard of the Foundation




his grave is behind this sculpture.




 
Stamatis Kraounakis is a music composer, music producer, lyricist, writer and director.
 

 
 


We thoroughly enjoyed the concert which featured a lot of Kraounakis' songs. The performance also incorporated his innovative technique of using songs as theatrical dialogue and the singers as heroes of fictional tales.





The backdrop to the stage was a series of paper carrier bags suspended from the ceiling which looked fantastic as the lighting changed and the shadows flickered on the wall.
 
 

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