On Sunday, September 1 The musical Memories of Smyrna, based on a story by producer and journalist Basilia Zervou was presented at the ancient theatre of Herodes Atticus on the slopes of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, thenationalherald.com notes in the following report signed by Yanna Darilis.
The talented director Dimitris Malissovas and the gifted writer Tanas Xarokopou showcased a heartfelt story – told through the voice of the new generation – about a Greek family and the days leading up to the ethnic cleansing and massacre of Greeks by the Turks during 1922.
The performance moved the packed ancient Greek theatre, as the actors masterfully portrayed the story of the great-grandson of an Asia Minor Greek musician, who inherits his letters and music following his grandmother’s passing. He retells the story of his great grandfather and his grandmother’s tragic love story and displacement of her family through the salvaged letters and the music of the Greeks of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey).
The choreography of the chorus by Theodores Pana brilliantly presents the souls who were lost but echo the stories from the other side through an inspired ‘Zombie’ angle.
The special performances of the main cast included: Tassos Halkias, Leda Protopsaltis, Christina Alexandiani, Konstantinos Giannakopoulos, Valeria Kouroui, Lefteris Eleftheria, Stavros Nikolaidis, and ArisPlaskasovitis.
The production features the talented Queen of Greek folk music, Eleni Vitali, who’s voice rattles one’s spine and provokes emotions. Joining her, was the great performer from Izmir, Turkey, Fide Koksal, who presented songs inspired by both Greek and Turkish cultures. Panos Patagiannis also performed songs that touched the soul.
Remembering Smyrna portrayed the horror of what the Greeks experienced during the upheaval, but it also presented the harmonious relationship between the Greeks and Turks and the other cultures who had lived together in the cosmopolitan and multicultural city for hundreds of years (since the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 and the occupation of the Greek world by the Ottoman Turks) before the political turmoil that led to 1922.
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Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: Nikthestoned
