March 27, 2014 – Results of the 2nd One-Act Playwriting Competition in Memory of Kostis Kolotas
The first prize of the 2nd One-Act Playwriting Competition in Memory of Kostis Kolotas was awarded to writer Yiannis Agisilaou.
The results of the 2nd One-Act Playwriting Competition in Memory of Kostis Kolotas were announced on Thursday, March 27, 2014, during an event organized by the Limassol Theatre Development Company (ETHAL) for World Theatre Day.
There were 44 entries, an unexpectedly pleasant increase in participation from writers in Cyprus, Greece, and France. This not only elevates the competition but also places greater responsibility on ETHAL regarding the future course of the competition, particularly in how the works are presented, publicized, and rewarded.
The first prize was awarded to Yiannis Agisilaou for his play The Collection. It is a well-rounded work featuring two male characters, with an admirable theatrical progression of the plot that achieves the desired climax in the final scene without forcing anything.
The second prize was shared between Charalambos Sachtouris from Chios for his play The Bench and Michalis Nicolaou from Limassol for his play Dilemmas.
The Bench, with four roles, transports us to the harsh reality of a modern metropolis in Greece. Sachtouris masterfully handles his expressive tools, creating images of dramatic intensity with consistency towards the intended goal.
The play Dilemmas is a pleasant surprise, offering much promise for the future. It is a monologue by a woman who, while conversing with a TV personality at home, reveals and narrates her unlivable life, permeated by the traumatic experiences of Cyprus, the invasion, and the missing persons.
The third prize was also shared between Vasilis Bountouris from Thessaloniki for his play Desdemona’s Handkerchief and Antonis Gennadiou from Lakatamia for his play The Unwound Wardrobe.
Antonis Gennadiou, using a wardrobe as a symbolic starting point, takes us through the existential world of a grandfather, his daughter, and granddaughter. Three generations meet, but do not communicate. Knowledge, and therefore continuity, are absent.
The Greek V. Bountouris entertains us with a very personal, humorous approach to a well-known character from world drama, Desdemona from Othello.
Finally, an Honorable Mention was awarded to Elias Maroutsis from Athens for his play Hotel Austria, a play centered on confinement, in an effort by the committee to encourage a type of writing that could be described as experimental.
The judging panel for the 2nd One-Act Playwriting Competition in Memory of Kostis Kolotas consisted of Mr. Titos Kolotas, Mimis Sophocleous, Doros Iroas, Minas Tikilis, and Katia Lamari-Schiza.
The awarded works are accompanied by monetary prizes provided by Dr. Christos Kolotas, the Municipality of Limassol, and the Cyprus Theatre Centre of the International Theatre Institute. The Municipality of Limassol and the Cyprus Theatre Centre will henceforth be institutional co-organizers of the competition.
At a later date, the manner and venue for presenting the second and third prize-winning plays as part of a staged reading, and possibly the production of Yiannis Agisilaou’s play by ETHAL, will be announced.
