The shadow of the fly

One-act play written by Valentina Papadimitraki

 

“The shadow of the fly”, written by Valentina Papadimitraki and first presented in the winter 2024-2025 in Piraeus, Greece, performed in various cafés in co-production with the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus. The main character of the play is a middle-aged woman, who has recently turned her urban apartment into an Airbnb. Waiting for her next guests to arrive, she sits at the neighbourhood café or square, and unfolds her thoughts about her life and her apartment, before and now, in a mix of monologue and dialogue without respondent. 

The play prompts a reflection on the social processes triggered by gentrification and the touristification of cities. It constitutes an exploration of the ever-changing cityscape, its changing or even vanishing neighbourhoods and the fading traces of personal and collective memory. On the one hand, there is urban touristification as a transcultural, universally felt process, triggered by globalization; on the other hand, the personal story of a woman eager to escape from her society-assigned role, but trapped in her own obsessions and internal contradictions. Bringing these two worlds together is the space of the local community, where personal and global stories interact, where people meet and exchange, even if not necessarily managing to truly communicate. 

 

Director: Anna Tsichli-Boissonnas 

Dramaturgy: Eirini Kasioumi 

Music: Anastasia Alamanou

Performers: Peni Michailidou, Apostolis Tsikas

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