First week of productions as Kypria set to launch

The time to welcome another edition of the Kypria International Festival is finally here and its first week hosts productions in Nicosia and Limassol from several countries. Opening the festival is En Crypto, a performance that is a collaboration between Cyprus, Greece and Israel, choreographed by Elena Christodoulidou.

Arriving first at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre on September 6, the performance features eight dance personalities trying to find a way to ‘return to normalcy’. En Crypto, performed by the group Amphidromo Chorotheatro, will then travel to Limassol for a performance at Rialto Theatre on September 8 before it is time for a production from Armenia to take the Kypria stages around the island.

While dancing fills the Rialto stage, music will fill the Nicosia Municipal Theatre on the same evening as the Naghash Ensemble performs Songs of Exile. The Armenian seven-piece group combines the earthy spirituality of Armenian folk songs, new classical music, contemporary post-minimalism, and the energy of jazz and rock. Three brilliant female vocalists and some of Armenia’s finest instrumentalists on duduk, oud, dhol and piano will execute new music based on sacred texts by the medieval Armenian mystic poet and priest Mkrtich Naghash. Following the Nicosia performance, the ensemble will head to Larnaca on the following evening for a performance at its municipal theatre.

Arriving next and wrapping up the first week of performances is a theatrical production from Greece featuring the great Greek actress Katia Dandoulaki. Titled The New Child, the production is the story of a woman who was born in 1950, the story of Daphne. The play follows the heroine as she rebels against the status quo, her family and the traditional way of life but also as she sets up her own modern home with very old materials.

From Mao Zedong to Giorgio Armani, Daphne follows her generation through the boom, prosperity and comfort of the 90s and 2000s and then collapses with it in the financial crisis of the 2010s, still she goes on. The New Child represents her power to overcome what has happened and to move forward. The performance will be presented first in Nicosia on September 10 and then at Rialto Theatre on the following evening.

Almost five more weeks of performances will follow until the festival concludes on October 16.

En Crypro

Production from Cyprus, Greece and Israel, part of Kypria International Festival. September 6. Nicosia Municipal Theatre, Nicosia. September 8. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. 8.30pm. €15. www.tickethour.com.cy. www.kypria.org.cy. Tel: 7777-7040

Songs of Exile

By the Armenian Naghash Ensemble, part of Kypria International Festival. September 8. Nicosia Municipal Theatre, Nicosia. September 9. Larnaca Municipal Theatre, Larnaca. 8.30pm. €15. www.tickethour.com.cy. www.kypria.org.cy. Tel: 7777-7040

The New Child

Greek theatrical performance, part of Kypria International Festival. September 10. Nicosia Municipal Theatre, Nicosia. September 11. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. 8.30pm. €15. www.tickethour.com.cy. www.kypria.org.cy. Tel: 7777-7040