As part of Stages Network’s Theatre Talks series, director Manolis Dounias discusses the play “High Heels in the Marsh” by Akis Dimou, which opens on June 2 at the Lambeti Summer Theater—Taratsa, directed by Dounias in collaboration with Emilios Cheilakis.As part of a tour running concurrently with the Lambeti Taratsa, the production will visit major cities throughout Greece.
The director analyzes how he directs this highly topical play by Akis Dimou and, at the same time, expresses his joy and surprise at being able to tackle a play, a political pop comedy that has never been staged before. He emphasized that he wants to convey an Almodóvar-esque mood to the audience, both in the play and in the set design. Joking, he noted that Lambeti’s Taratsa calls for a touch of madness, and that is precisely how he and his collaborators are approaching this production. He also said that this political comedy addresses social ills in a lighthearted way, without taking sides. It touches on everyone—after all, it’s a play about what we’re all going through. He also emphasized that comedy is an easier genre, especially when it comes to rehearsals, since the dialogue lifts everyone’s spirits. However, as he aptly put it, comedy is actually a more difficult and demanding genre for actors.
A minister, his wife, and a leading figure in the Official Opposition. An eccentric, ambitious writer and a rising, equally ambitious journalist. A passionate (so they say) love affair that some cannot forget and others do not want to remember. A wedding anniversary that turns into a farce, a pile of dirty laundry that comes out into the open (but there’s no water to wash it), and the public life of a country that, for other is in danger and is burning . And all this while everyone is waiting, moment by moment, for the Prime Minister’s arrival at the reception.
A colorful pop comedy about the gray areas of politics (and beyond).
