As Kypria International Festival continues its series of performances, a co-production between Cyprus and Greece is set to take the stage in Nicosia and Limassol. My Room is Not a Stage will first be presented at Nicosia Municipal Theatre on September 13 before travelling to Limassol’s Pattihio Municipal Theatre on the following evening.

The performance has only two artists on stage, dancer Madga Argyridou and actress Yioulika Skafida. The two women will also be shown via video alongside Olga Markari who participates solely through a video screen. Under the direction of Petros Charalambous, the performance follows a Cypriot dancer who remains enclosed in her apartment in Poland due to the pandemic. She cannot return to her country and family or go across the street to the opera where she used to dance. As a result of this, her room becomes her only stage. When a Greek actress experiences something in the street, she decides to lock herself in her apartment, or not.

Charalambous is a name many might recognise. His early exposure to photography, theatre and art, as well as his need for emotional and visual expression, led him to Hollywood where he studied film and television directing. Since 2000 he has been directing commercials, documentaries, theatre and films. His film Boy on the Bridge had its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival and Patchwork in the East of the West competition section of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. He was the artistic director of the children’s section of Cyprus Film Days and organised the EFA YAA (European Film Academy Young Audience Award) from 2019 to 2021 in Cyprus. Now, apart from participating in Kypria, he is developing his third feature 4 Hours.

My Room is Not a Stage

Performance directed by Petros Charalambous. Part of Kypria International Festival. September 13. Nicosia Municipal Theatre, Nicosia. September 14. Pattihio Municipal Theatre, Limassol. 8.30pm. www.tickethour.com.cy. www.kypria.org.cy