On the very last day of the year, a popular and award-winning performance returns to the capital to enchant audiences of all ages, backgrounds and countries. STILL! A Statue That Travelled the World is a Cypriot production that has quite literally toured the globe with performances in Lithuania, Armenia, Tunisia, North Macedonia and China. Now, as the year comes to a close, it returns to its base for one last heart-warming show in 2024.

Held at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre on December 31 at 4pm, the performance is part of the 5th Nicosia International Festival and an important event for Nicosia’s bid for European Capital of Culture 2030.

It was awarded at the 12th Bitolino Festival for Children and Youth in Bitola, North Macedonia. When announcing the result, the jury said: “The performance we awarded had all the ingredients we were looking for and made our job easier with its excellent idea and story, great direction and choreography, amazing performances, lighting, set and costume design, live music and video design. All the above created a constant magic on stage and took the show to another level. It was a performance the likes of which we have never seen before and won the hearts of the audience and committee”.

The production also won the Best Performance Award from the National Children’s Theatre of China, as part of the International Excellent Children’s Drama programme of the 12th China Children’s Theatre Festival, organised by the National Theatre of China in 2023.

Also, actress Christina Papadopoulou won the Young Creator of the Year Award 2021 at the Theatre Awards of the Cyprus Theatre Organisation for her performance in this production.

STILL premiered at the Nicosia festival back in 2021 and has been presented in front of some 12,000 people. What is remarkable about this Cypriot production is that it speaks to viewers of all ages and ethnicities as the performances uses no language but a fictional one everyone can understand. It was a feat by Stavros Stavrou invented especially for this production. Children as young as three years old and also adults have been enjoying STILL, receiving its universal messages.

The theme of the play is friendship, celebrating peace, acceptance of diversity and the power of true love. A girl in a boat sets out on a journey into the unknown, trying to escape the horrors of war. She finds shelter in an unknown country and rests on a bench underneath the statue of a soldier. Soon a crazy revelation turns everything upside down; it’s a statue that comes alive!

Director Kostas Silvestros and choreographer Panagiotis Tofi jointly composed the production, based on a story invented by lyricist Stavrou. With the original music of the Greek pianist and composer Thodoris Economou as their vehicle, they create a feast of music, images and colours.

STILL! A Statue That Travelled the World

Award-winning Cypriot production returns to the 5th Nicosia International Festival. December 31. Nicosia Municipal Theatre, Nicosia. 4pm. For audiences 3 years old and above. Fictional language. €10. www.soldoutticketbox.com