When Greeks invade a Glass Store - Part 2

Dear friends,

More fruit on the tree!!

GRGPS ( George Raptopoulos -Georgia Psarra-Set)  are proud to present the next guest blogger, our sensitive Venia Adamakou, who is also part of the team of Greeks participating in the bull wreaking a magic havoc in the glass store

Enjoy perambulating in the gardens and please share your opinions with us!!!

          When I was asked if I wanted to participate in this project  I accepted  immediately as I love theatre! I did not imagine that this decision could change the way I am thinking.

         After a discussion full of interesting ideas we decided to play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. All the roles were wonderful and presented the ambitions, the problems and the thoughts of the heroes. There was one role, though, that fascinated me the most, the role of Laura, and I thought that I should give it a try.

        Laura is a young girl that cannot walk properly and did not have any luck at making friends as she always thought that she was not good enough for this world. She feels lonely and she creates her own world where she feels safe and happy. Her company is her animals that are made of glass as she cannot find what she needs when she speaks with her mother or her brother. When her first love appears in her house she realizes that she can be happy in the real world too. She does not care that much about her glass collection anymore but her dream is ruined when Jim, her love, announces that he is engaged.

        This role was a real challenge for me as I always rely on my friends when something bothers me and I  cannot imagine my life without  travelling, going out and being energetic in general. I had  to imagine how I would feel if I was totally isolated  and had a problem with my legs. I felt awful for her! Something that  helped me understand her more was that I hurt my leg and I could not walk properly for a day or two. I immediately thought about Laura and  that I needed to approach this role with respect  since many people in our society face problems like Laura.

       During the rehearsals we had so much fun as we were all excited about this  play and we wanted to make it perfect! I hope that our efforts will be enough to satisfy our audience! 

When Greeks invade a Glass Store - Part 1

 GRGPS (George Raptopoulos - Georgia Psarra - Set) is proud to announce that our second project -within the larger "Spread Literature into the World!"- named "When Greeks invade a Glass Store", has already yielded crops! 

The first is here to merrily peruse and for us to grin broadly,

Our first guest blogger is Paschalis Paschalidis with his fruit of labour and love!

This year, as part of  the project “Spread Arts into the World, I was given the opportunity to undertake work  with one of the most famous and significant plays of the modern theatre. The Glass Menagerie by  Tennessee Williams is a play that every young person, and especially those  who love theatre, has to study, think about and be concerned with. A simple scene in an ordinary town, common urban people, a century of change are more than enough to set up a story of conflicts, love, hate and a journey  to the innermosts of the human soul.

  The role I had to act was  that of  Jim O’Connor. He is a young man, very popular at high school , but now living an ordinary tedious  life, much lower than his ambitions. Jim is a dreamer, but not just in words. He sets goals  and works hard to achieve them, in a society of misery and routine. He is the external observer, who joins the Wingfields’ house to change the balances, to offer a taste of the dream and, finally, to take it away for ever.

  This role is a challenge for every young and ambitious person. It is a sample of the modern European and American  theatre, where nothing is said, but everything is hidden behind some simple words, moves and reactions.

  During the scene, Jim plays a major role. He is the new person who has to deal with all the O’ Connor family. The pressing but glamorous Amanda, the disappointed and indifferent Tom and ,of course, the very special Laura, who is totally in love with him.

  We had to change some expressions of Jim in order to turn him into a modern Greek man who lives in America. During this whole process we discovered that there was no big difference between the psychology of Jim and that of a modern Greek who is forced to abandon his country and his dreams there in order to find a better future abroad. 

  Summarizing, the whole process of discovering, studying and playing this very difficult role was a challenge  but, at  the same time, an opportunity for me to discover a unique character. A person of another time, not so different from ours. The whole play made me reevaluate  some situations . Rethink, change my mind and for sure be concerned. I recommend  it to everyone!