RIP Theoni Vachlioti Aldredge

Have been meaning to write this since I heard the news on Friday. Theoni Vachlioti-Aldredge, born in Thessaloniki in 1932 and one of the greatest costume designers this country has ever exported, is no longer with us.

With hundreds of Broadway plays, movies and tv shows featuring her name, it would be fair to say she'll be remembered as one of last century's most important costume designers worldwide.

She's in the Theatre Hall of Fame since 1986, has received awards like TONY, BAFTA, Costume Guild Career Achievement Award, as well as an Oscar for Jack Clayton's 'The Great Gatsby' (1974). First film in her long career was Michalis Kakoyiannis' 'Stella' (1955) followed by many famous classics like 'Annie' (1982) and Ghostbusters (1984).

A true icon, may she rest in piece.
*Deni Vachlioti is Theoni Vachlioti's cousin, also a costume designer and sometimes mistakenly mentioned as her, even on imdb.

Bar comedy on Sunday

It's only a few hours before Ooh! La! La! kicks off and yesterday was a good day to pay rehearsals a visit. I tell you this bar comedy is avenging all childhood fairytales that hunted your adult life with their perfect happy endings. Sleeping Beauty waited too long for prince charming to find her and blow that kiss and now he's marrying someone else. Hell, I knew it all along, nothing good could come out of so much sleep! Snow White and Cinderella get the treatment too. Nevertheless, it all resumes to an ending that's, well, happy!
A "kinky" fairytale for grown-up kids (see wow shoes courtesy of EroSart sex shop), had to be told where they frequent around bedtime and that's Swing Bar, Gazi. It was fun watching a play at such unconventional settings. Bar comedy is a close cousin to stand-up and I can say I like the family. It's direct, casual and always a safe laugh with the bar at close distance:)
(can't get over the headspeaker, have put down a request for it come the end of the season)
Ooh! La! La! starts this Sunday, November 28th at 21:00, a good excuse to end this weekend among friends, booze and a laugh at those lucky ducks that used to get the prince by default. Here's a shout out by the cast:

Writer: Yannis Vlachoyannis
Direction: Yannis Vlachoyannis – Marios Karavasilis
Music Direction: Mion
Choreography: Marios Karavasilis
Costumes: Celebrity Skin
Photography: Fenia Lambropoulou
Hair: Mod’s Hair
Make-up: Maro Kokoni
Cast:
Marios Karavasilis
Nina Papanikolaou
Varvara Karanikola
Yannis Vlachoyannis
Narration: Iliana Emma

Ooh! la! la! rehearsal photos

Less than a week to go:
All images by Fenia Lambropoulou.

Say ooh! la! la!

Art.code and director Yannis Vlachoyannis have got a... kinky fairytale to tell! They are determined to make you say it. Ooh! la! la! is a theatre comedy for grown up kids, full of clever lines where cinderella meets girl next door, mod's hair goes wild on actors' hair colour, Celebrity Skin do what they know best: 13 conceptual costumes for stage. Starting this Sunday, November 28th and ticket is set at 12 euros including first drink. Leaving you with Fenia Lambropoulou's behind the scenes photo from poster's official shoot:
Ooh-la-la, looking forward to a good laugh.

Low Budget Festival

Low Budget + Theatre + What I did on Saturday night = perfect Sunday post. So here it is. Last night I went to see Abovo's performance (Tzaba Ellada) as part of the first Low Budget Festival at Michalis Cacoyannis Foundation. This theatre festival is all about putting together a play on a 500 euro budget and inviting the audience to see it with tickets costing as low as 10 euros.

Abovo's excellent entertaining skills were there once again at this interactive satirical performance which will be repeated tonight and tomorrow. I strongly suggest you leave your sofa and telly and go for it. More info on plays to follow, HERE.

The importance of costumes in theatre

Whilst at the rehearsal last Monday, I thought I might pop the question: Why are costumes so important for the delivery of a role? The director, protagonists and costume designers of ANNA 11/M provided answers from their own points of view:

The director, Christos Strepkos (Michani Technis) - above left: "The costumes are like a second skin on performers. The characters are visualy incomplete without them. For me, it is very important to work with costume designers that are able to communicate the message I am aiming to express accurately and realistically".

The protagonists, Natassa Dailiani, Deppy Paga & Christina Skaza - above left to right:

"The costumes are vital in performing. They complete the character and directly influence the way we play the part".

"They are our work uniform, if the stage is our 'office' they are the 'suit'. If you go to work in the wrong dress code it counts against you and your tasks".

"The costumes play the most imortant part, they are our job tools. They have to be right for the job to be done, for the character to be delivered".

The Costume Designers, Celebrity Skin (1/2 of, Dimitris Strepkos above): "Costume design is where I started my career from and I know well that the nature of the character reflects on them. The shapes, the colours are all symbols the audience has to read. You have to understand each role well and do your research. I found it particularly interesting bringing the avant garde spirit of Celebrity Skin to everyday people costumes. Adding touches of elegance to real people is what art is really after, isn't it?"

Exclusive preview: Celebrity Skin costumes for ANNA 11/M

When invited to the final rehearsal for ANNA 11/M, I was particularly curious about the creative direction of the costumes, signed by Celebrity Skin. The results had me all excited. The duo known for it's extravagant, saturated gowns managed to tone down their style and adjust it to roles that are tragic rather than glamorous. Celebrity Skin explain the work paths they went down to dress characters such as protesters, everyday women and a nurse.

"The protesters play a vital role in creating the mood of where it all takes place. We spent hours inspecting images from the streets of Madrid back in 2004. Protesters were mostly wearing white t-shirts and had hand-painted the words "Terrorism = Poverty" in green.

We decided to exaggerate this by switching the t-shirts for long, rectangular tops made from raw white fabric, with oversized angular shoulders semiologically resembling protest signs. We applied the paint in the same manner the original protesters did, passionately and messy".

"Anna, the lover. She is naive, frivolous, bubbly. She is Angel's affair. Still, she is under stress to find out if he made it alive. We chose ash, smoky colours for all the characters. Particularly for her, we made a short, sexy dress paired with high heels. It's meant to be 11 o'clock in the morning, we wanted to show that she has no worries other than looking good. And now Angel, of course".

"Anna, the wife. She is most probably the most affected of all. She is at the waiting room expecting life or death news on the father of her child. We chose even darker shades and a Yamamoto-inspired long skirt to make her look imposing in space.

Next to her at the waiting room is the wife of a Romanian immigrant. We walked the neighbourhoods of immigrants in Athens, watched how they dress. Those people are hard-working, poor people. They cannot afford style but they are not concerned about it either, they have greater worries. Their clothes were mainly mis-matched and out of date and we followed this pattern".

"Anna, the mother. She is a comical figure in the darkest sense of humour. Everything on her is aristocratic but have twists of exaggeration, surreal details to match her character, like the decorated hat and the random frill.

The nurse accompanying her is dressed after research too. Seriously. We visited hospitals in Athens just to see what nurses wear during night shifts! We surprisingly noticed a pattern: white unbottoned robes, tight dresses, skin colour tights and cheap plastic shoes. It was like a uniform, we even asked them what their shoes were and went for them!"

Overall, Celebrity Skin didn't aim to adjust the characters to their aesthetics, but adjust their style to the needs of each role. It was all designed to support the plot and that took hours of reading the script and watching how the actresses move during the rehearsals. Well, I must say it paid off!

ANNA 11/M - theatre reflects on life

When tv reflects on life, you get a documentary, a movie, even a series. What happens though when this reflection is put into a theatrical play?

"ANNA 11/M" is Paloma Pedrero's transfer of the terrorist attack that shook Madrid and the world on March 11th 2004, through the eyes of three women named "Anna". No random Annas. They all have Angel in common, Anna the lover, Anna the wife, Anna the mother. Angel was on the tragic train to Atocha and the three main monologues Pedrero put together manage to tell the story, unravel the horror and at the same time project some of the most powerful ways a woman can love a man.

Both the script and costumes are based on real witnesses testimonies with peaks of surreal, ironic moments that make this no ordinary drama. Skillful stage direction, semiology and well-worked, good performances give you all the good reasons to go watch this whether it's paying tribute to the memory of the event, recognising the tragedy terrorism brings or simply interested in the mutli-angular approach of love.

"ANNA 11/M" will be on Pandou's stage (Karaiskaki 28, Psurri) starting this Wednesday the 3rd and every Wednesday and Thursday after that. Had the honour of watching the grand rehearsal and I strongly recommend you check it out.

Stay tuned, exclusive costume photos and some interesting insights on their importance as perceived by the actresses, the director and Celebrity Skin, the costume designers themselves.

Direction-Sceneography: Christos Strepkos
Translation: Maria Chatziemmaouil–Dimitris Psaras
Costumes: Celebrity Skin
Music: Dimitris Karalis
Lights: Nikos Sotiropoulos
Assistant Director: Stavros Kolokouris

Starring: Deppy Paga, Natassa Dailiani, Christina Skaza

Pandou Multispace (Karaiskaki 28,Psurri,tel. 210 3314601-2)
Opening 3rd February
Wednesdays & Thursdays
Starting at 21.15
Ticket Price 15є, 10є (students)