Andreas Staikos, Merope

On love games: Merope by Andreas Staikos.
Merope—in mythology, one of the Pleiades and symbol of the fickleness of human existence—is the (low-born) young wife of Demosthenes Koupas, son of the rich soap merchant Harilaos Koupas. Languid and impulsively pleasure-seeking, Merope is initiated by Eleni (who presents herself falsely as a violin teacher) to the joys of female homosexuality which was so much celebrated by Sappho, the great poetess of ancient Lesbos. Eleni, in order to secure her permanent presence in the household and enjoy her love affair with Merope, agrees with her to promise nights of erotic passion to the husband. The play of Staikos is about lust, the flesh, love and its various aspects, about lies, seduction, delusion, the capriciousness of fortune, the fickleness of individuals and the ephemeral nature of both life and the art of the theatre.

Employing elements from history as well as fiction, as he does in other plays, Staikos devises a dramatic universe based exclusively on the playful use of this material, in terms of themes and dramaturgical media, and thus reinforces the theatricality of the play. Games of love, games of role reversal, games of deceit but also linguistic games—a trademark of Staikos—abolish all realistic conventions, provoking and demanding the viewer’s constant complicity to vindicate them.

Actors: Evangelia Kapogianni, Evangelia Koulizaki, Maria Branidou, Enke Fezollari

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