As part of the festival’s #Under 30 programme that features young local creators, the rising Cypriot singer-songwriter and performer Savvas Chrysostomou, known as Sais, is taking the theatre stage this week.

On Tuesday, November 18, he presents the performance Shios (Existential Shade) – an invitation to the shadows that return for one single night.

At the edge of memory and oblivion, in the in-between place where lost stories reside, the performance Shios is born.

A multimedia theatrical experience fusing music, dance and spoken word, the performance appears like a ritual dedicated to the unseen protagonists of the land: those who were sung about and those who never fit into any song.

Fragments of traditional songs and unwritten stories weave together into a contemporary myth, told in the Cypriot dialect.

The performance is curated and artistically conceived by the musician/songwriter Sais. It emerged through collaboration with writer Giorgos Papakonstantinou, performer Alexandros Kyriazis and musician/singer Freideriki Tombazou.

The creator invites the audience to pause for a moment at the dark margin of history, where perhaps the most human light may be hidden.

Shios – Existential Shade

Performance by Cypriot singer-songwriter and performer Savvas Chrysostomou (Sais). Part of the Nicosia International Festival 2025. November 18. Nicosia Municipal Theatre, Nicosia. 8.30pm. €10-16. www.more.com/cy-en/tickets/music/ssios-tou-sabba-xrysostomou-sai