This is what a striking theatrical performance asks as it travels to Cyprus for the first time. Two evenings of critical thinking, raw commentary and social questions await as a Portuguese production takes the Nicosia stage.

In a record year for democracy, with more than 60 countries and half of the world’s population heading to the polls, Nicosia 2030 touches on its fragility. Together with the 5th Nicosia International Festival, it present the theatrical performance Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists, an award-winning play by Tiago Rodrigues. It will reach the stage of the Nicosia Municipal Theatre this week, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The play tells the story of a family in southern Portugal which has a paradoxical tradition – once a year, they abandon their normal lives to kill a fascist. Rodrigues’ production deals with heavy political issues such as the best means in a democracy to deal with the fascist forces currently on the rise.

It questions whether it is morally acceptable to ‘do evil in order to do good’, which is the motto of the family and whether there is a place for violence in the struggle for a better world. “Can we break the rules of democracy when we seek better ways to defend it?” asks Rodrigues.

All these could easily turn into caricatures, yet Rodrigues refuses to give the audience an easy way out of these moral dilemmas and certainly does not shy away from showing us what he means by fascism.

Portuguese actor Rodrigues developed his art as an actor and playwright in Belgium from the age of 20. In September 2022 he became Director of the Avignon Festival, on whose stages he directed several plays including Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, By Heart, Hecuba, not Hecuba. His last one was also presented at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus in 2024.

Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists has received various awards including the UBU 2023 Best Foreign Performance Award in Italy, the Best Foreign Performance Award from the 2023 Critics’ Union in France and the Best Foreign Actress Award from the Virginia Reiter Premio for Beatriz Maïa, in the role of Catarina.

The production toured all over Europe – Venice, Paris, Athens, Frankfurt, Lausanne, Lisbon and beyond – and prior to the Nicosia performances it crossed the Atlantic for performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York. A few tickets remain for the upcoming shows in the Cypriot capital, sold through Sold Out Tickets.

Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists

Award-winning play by director Tiago Rodrigues. Part of the 5th Nicosia International Festival. December 10-11. Nicosia Municipal Theatre, Nicosia. 8.30pm. In Portuguese with surtitles in English and Greek. www.soldoutticketbox.com