BORDER LINES
by Chris Cooper

THE ELENI PAPADAKI STAGE

THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S STAGE & THE YOUTH STAGE

BORDER LINES

by Chris Cooper

Directed by Sofia Vgenopoulou

From 25 October 2023

People trying to survive in a collapsing world, people whose situations force them to walk a tightrope along a border line. Chris Cooper's characters, fugitives from the horrors of war and/or a hardscrabble existence, find refuge on the Eleni Papadaki Stage at the Rex Theatre, and show how hope can blossom from the ruins, and how the imagination offers a shield of protection and the impetus for a leap into the clouds.

The imagination, after all, is what will help two young children when they leave their homeland fleeing a violent war. In search of safety, they will be forced to pass through inhospitable places, evade ambushes, and overcome enemies and obstacles, struggling not only to survive but to preserve their dignity and their humanity. When they manage to cross the border, they will seek protection in a family's holiday home in the mountains. An ordinary family with its own problems and concerns: alienation and the absence of an emotional bond between its members, sibling rivalry and a generation gap. People who, having solved the crucial problem of survival, watch what is happening in the outside world with a sense of detachment. Each member of the family will react differently to the arrival of the uninvited strangers, without realising that this unforeseen encounter will change everyone's lives forever.

This production is the culmination of a new collaboration between the National Theatre of Greece and UNICEF, as part of the "Theatre for peace" educational programme. Young refugees from war zones started off by working with Greeks of their own age, as well as with drama teachers and actors from the NTG, and then with the author himself, turning the personal into a collective whole and transforming their experiences, while offering valuable material for the creation of the play and the production.

With a cast of ten young actors, Sofia Vgenopoulou traces the moving and eventful progress of people who move across border lines. Using material from real life and dreams, the production's aim is to discuss the burning social issue of how modern societies react to the arrival of the 'foreign', the 'different', and the "other".

It is a production made from the stuff of life and the dreams of young people.

Production team

Translator: Julia Diamantopoulou
Director: Sofia Vgenopoulou
Dramaturgical advisor: Irene Moundraki
Set design: Tina Tzoka
Costume design: Eleni Manolopoulou
Movement: Stavroula Siamou
Music: Alex Drakos Ktistakis
Lighting design: Vassilis Papakonstantinou
Music coach: Melina Peonidou
Dramaturg: Eftichia Charalambaki
Directing assistant: Panos Kougias
Set design assistant: Stavros Balis
Costume design assistant: Emily Koukoutsaki
Music assistant: John Konsolakis

Cast (in alphabetical order):

Asimina Anastasopoulou, Malamatenia Gotsi, Vasilis Kalfakis, Vasilis Karaboulas, Melina Kotselou, Efstathia Lagiokapa, Michail Melissis, Nancy Sideri, Giorgos Skarlatos, Eleni Zarafidou

WITH THE SUPPORT OF