at the Aliki Theater
-Is she dead?
-Someone covered her mouth so she wouldn’t speak.
-Well, at least now we know.
-What do we know?
-That the killer is one of us.
“8 Women,” the famous play by French playwright Robert Thomas, directed by Petros Zoulias, opens on December 1 at the Aliki Theater, featuring a powerful all-female cast.
The action unfolds at a breakneck pace, and the author masterfully combines thriller, melodrama, mystery, and farce. “8 Women” has been described as a comedy and a detective play, but in reality it transcends this simple label and ultimately proves that it encompasses all forms of theater. With a satirical take on established bourgeois norms, a tendency to mock societal stereotypes, and a constant emphasis on the aristocratic— yet all-too-dangerous worship of money by the upper middle class, the play transforms into a sarcastic social commentary. Perhaps this is why it has remained just as popular for more than 70 years—that is, since the late 1950s, when “8 Women” was first introduced to the public. After all, it is no coincidence that it ranks among the finest works of classic French literature and is even taught in French universities as part of theater studies!
In Aliki’s play, *8 Women*, in which the characters are confronted with an unexpected murder one Christmas Eve, the roles are played (in alphabetical order) by: Ioanna Asimakopoulou, Katia Gkoulioni, Natalia Dragoumi, Georgia Kallergi, Nikoletta Kotsailidou, Anna Konstantinou, Euphrosyne Sakellariou, Marina Psalti.
The story:
The play takes place in a secluded mansion on Christmas Eve.
On the occasion of a family celebration, the following are gathered in the same house: Gaby, the wife of the industrial magnate Marcel; his two daughters, Suzanna and Catherine, his elderly sister-in-law, Augustina, his mother-in-law, his uninvited and unwelcome sister, Pierrette, and their household staff. The trusted housekeeper, Madame Chanel, and the beautiful maid, Louise. The host, Marcel—the only man in the house—is found brutally murdered in his room. Due to bad weather, the police cannot reach the scene, and the women’s close quarters begin to bring to light secrets and lies about their relationships with the unfortunate victim.
And his “8 women”… do they mourn him, I wonder? Not exactly. They’re distraught, they faint, they suspect one another, and they fight with kid gloves—just as befits ladies of their class. Hypocritical, traditionalist, unfaithful, corrupt. All these epithets fit them. Could one say that they were also victims? Is that possible? Now, however, they are anxious about the unknown murderer, who, as it appears, is definitely among them. Who could it be? They all seem guilty and innocent at the same time!
Robert Thomas has put his stamp on a classic story that is both contemporary and captivating, just like any mystery story, regardless of the theatrical “trends” of any given era.
Petros Zoulias chose this play because it holds up a mirror to our profound moral decay and our social destitution. Violence, self-interest, and the intense hypocrisy of human relationships, unfortunately, remain ever-present before us. The play, written as if on a tightrope, makes everyone and everything walk a tightrope between truth and lies, comedy and drama.
The double game set up by the master of the genre, Robert Thomas, is a major challenge. The death ritual turns into a macabre cannibalistic party. A female-led ring, full of unpredictable revelations.
This charming women’s team game keeps the audience captivated from the very first moment through the surprising and ingenious finale.
