Samuel Beckett's
Happy Days

Samuel Beckett's

Happy Days

Directed by Dimitri Tarlow

Saturday August 1st 2026
at Andros Open-air Theatre

"I admire you and thank you for your willingness to play Winnie"

Dimitri Tarlow directs Aglaia Pappa in one of the most emblematic works of the theatre of the absurd, Samuel Beckett's Happy Days, in a project that explores human resilience and pays tribute to the great actor Christina Tsigkou, a close friend of Beckett himself, translator of the play and inextricably linked to the role of Winnie.
The play will premiere on Saturday, August 1^st at Andros Open-air Theatre; a collaboration of Poreia Theatre and Friends of the Andros Festival Non-Profit Organisation.

The play focuses on Winnie, who is buried up to her waist in a mound of earth. Despite this, Winnie remains optimistic, clinging to her daily habits and her favourite objects, indicating routine as a means of survival. In Act II Winnie is buried up to her neck, unable to move. However, she doesn't stop speaking and doesn't stop hoping, demonstrating the power of human will.

This is precisely what the performance focuses on; the ability with which the great Irishman arms his protagonist to cope with alienation, the futility of existence and the lack or difficulty of communication. The austere space is filled with existential tension. The deep philosophical dimension of life is revealed by stillness and the time reaching its end. The setting focuses on Winnie's perception as a work of art -the work of art that is human existence- while Winnie's inner monologue alternates with soundscapes, creating a sound experience.

Dimitri Tarlow, who is directing a play by Samuel Beckett and the theatre of the absurd for the first time, notes regarding the upcoming project:

"Marina, I feel very tired. I need to rest for some days. I will go to Spetses island; to a friend's hotel."

With these words, Christina Tsigkou, née Mavroidi -the one to whom Samuel Beckett said: "I admire you and thank you for your willingness to play Winnie"- left my mother her leather suitcase; the one that contained all her notes, her wig and her props from the play Happy Days. A few days later, Marina Karagatsi and Pantelis Voulgaris would receive -just the two of them (along with a policeman)- the dead body of the renowned actress at the port of Piraeus.

A year and a half ago, when Marina Karagatsi passed away, she left me the brown suitcase as a legacy.

My recent meeting with Aglaia Pappa, decades after we graduated from the National Theatre Drama School, came to put everything in perspective.

Desire gives birth to desire.

Memory, to memories,

And senses, to senses.

The performance will have English surtitles.

ARTISTIC AND PRODUCTION CREDITS
Direction: Dimitri Tarlow
Text rendering: Dimitri Tarlow, Aglaia Pappa
Set - Costume: Paris Mexis
Music composition: Fotis Siotas
Lighting design: Alekos Anastasiou
Associate dramaturge: Eri Kyrgia
Assistant director: Aristi Tselou
Photography: Patroklos Skafidas
Trailer: Thomas Palivos

Cast: Aglaia Pappa and Dimitris Bitos

A collaboration of Poreia Theatre and Friends of the Andros Festival Non-Profit Organisation