Short history of the Theater Workshop of the School of German Language and Literature
The Theater Workshop of the School of German Language and Literature of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, having as material theatrical works of German or German-speaking authors, tries to bring the students as well as the public of Thessaloniki in contact with German literature and German culture through the theatrical works it has been staging since 1989/1990.
The activity of the Theater Workshop of the German School started with the group Uni-Thesniki with the staging of Lysistrate based on Aristophanes and Franz Kafka meets Dario Fo in 1989/90. The performances were carried out at the Goethe-Institut in Thessaloniki and in Germany in Regensburg and Kassel. They have been followed by Reiner-Werner Fassbinder's play Der Katzelmacher.
Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Hercules und der Stall des Augias has been staged under the direction of Manfred Koch and Eleni Boutoulousi. The performances took place at the Goethe-Institut in Thessaloniki in April and May 1991, as well as at the Alpha Theatre in Athens.
1992 staged Fremdgeblieben under the direction of Evelyn Röttger and Kostas Davanis, which was presented at the Goethe-Institut in Thessaloniki (21.5.1992) and in Istanbul (5.11.1992), according to a collaboration between the German Schools of the two universities.
During the same period, under the supervision of Eleni Boutoulousi, the play Herkules und der Stall des Augias was translated into Greek. The play was performed in its Greek translation at the Goethe-Institut in Thessaloniki (19.10.1992) and at the Prefecture of Kilkis (23.10.1992).
In November 1992 the Theater Workshop presented Ausländerfeindlichkeit. Eine Textcollage and in May 1993 Frank Wedekind's FrϋhΙingserwachen under the guidance of Evelyn Rottger and Kostas Davanis. This was followed by three one-act plays A man with a flower in his mouth by L. Pirandello, Going to the wolves by J. Bowles and The counter by Z. Tardieu at the Goethe-Institut in Thessaloniki (14.12.1993 and 12.5.1994) - the only plays by non-German-speaking authors.
After a pause of three years the Theater Workshop staged a series of novels dramatized in short sketches in April 1998 at the 25th March Theater under the direction of Sibylle Ebbertz.
In the year 1998/1999 the performance Erich Kästner was carried out under the direction of Sibylle Ebbertz and presented at the Parathlasis Studio. The play was a series of short sketches outlining today's society.
During the 1999/2000 season, Friedrich Dϋrrenmatt's play Frank V. was performed at the Parathlasis Studio (20-21.4.2000), under the guidance and directorial supervision of Sibylle Ebbertz and Katerina Zachou.
In the year 2000/2001 the play Don Juan oder die Liebe zur Geometrie by Max Frisch was staged under the direction of Katerina Zahou.
In 2001/2002 the play Heinrich oder die Schmerzen der Phantasie by Tankred Dorst is staged under the direction and stage direction of Katerina Zahou. It is worth noting that this play was translated into Greek and published by University Studίο Press.
In 2005/2006 the play Elfriede Mϋllers Goldener Oktober was staged under the direction and stage direction of Katerina Zahou. The play is a social commentary on the reunification of Germany.
2006/2007: The Theater Workshop stages Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's classic play Minna von Barnhelm assisted and guided by the director and actress Tina Stephanopoulou.
2007/2008 we perform the play Der Hässliche of Marius von Mayenburg. The play had its world premiere in 2007 and has been staged by the New Stage of the National Theatre Athens on May 10th in 2008. For the second year we are collaborating with Tina Stefanopoulou.
2008/2009: In this year the group consists of 27 people and decides to put up a collage of Bertolt Brecht's works entitled: What are you looking at? It’s only theatre! An evening with Brecht. For the first time in the history of the theatre group, the play will be performed on stage with Greek subtitles for the public of Thessaloniki with little or no knowledge of German.
2009/2010. The School of German Language and Literature celebrates in 2010 the 50th anniversary of its foundation and with the initiative of the students Vassoula Makri and Maria Brandt and the support of other graduates and students of the School, the Theater Workshop performs the comedy Dr. med. Hiob Praetorius. It is worth mentioning that the entire play was translated by the Subshine group, which is composed of graduates of the Department. This year marks the beginning of the collaboration of the Drama Club with Maita Hatzioannidou, who creates the posters for the performances ever since, and with Vassoula Makri, who is co-working as an encourager every theatre group ever since.
2010/2011. In addition to the scheduled performances, Play Dürrenmatt was presented in the context of the International Conference Languages and Cultures in (inter)action, 25-28.5.2011, organized by the School of German Language & Literature of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for its 50th anniversary.
From 2013/2014 until today the Theater Workshop is working on contemporary German-language -mainly- plays, which are presented, analysed and rearranged in order to highlight the students' reflections in a theatrical collage performance of the group.
2013/2014. Human dignity is inviolable. Topic: Unemployment, the physical and moral degradation of people, the dismantling of institutional human values, the onslaught of nationalism and the culmination of all this in a galloping social exclusion culminating in racism.
2014/2015. Borders. Topic: Violence, exclusion, prejudice against refugees and racism. "Borders-Grenzen" takes us on a journey to stories that happen next to us and gives us an insight into situations experienced by people we interact with on a daily basis without knowing what is happening in their lives and how they affect us directly or indirectly. What are the Borders after all, who defines them, where do they begin and end? Do they protect us or limit us?
2016/2017: MONEY S.A. The performance was inspired by Falk Richter's play Trust, which was performed at the Schaubühne in Berlin in 2009. In one of the play's scenes, which criticizes today's harsh capitalist way of life, the text reads: "I am like money" confronting us with our fears and concerns about our position in the workplace and our personal lives. Who are we? Who do others basically want us to be and how do we feel about it? And most importantly: Who we want to be!
2017/2018. Freaking out. Topic: The Theater Workshop presents a theatrical collage of everything that oppresses us. Unsatisfying loves, damaged friendships, oppressive societies and oppressed, lonely and trapped people. The choice of texts shows people in extreme or confessional situations that border on madness and make them freak out. The performance was also staged in the context of the International Conference Texturen von Herrschaft im Mittelmeerraum (Narratives of Domination in the Mediterranean), 30.05.-01.06.2018, co-organized by the School of German Language and Literature of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
2018/2019: #Error404. Topic: The theme of the performance is the different forms of violence and power. The theme is the domination of money, the abuse of power: A society that labels and rejects difference. A society that stereotypes and marginalizes its people. A society that leads to sexual repression and produces domestic violence. Type: Freedom of expression, sexual liberation, equal opportunity, equal treatment, human rights ... The page you requested was not found, #ERROR404.
2019/2020: Covid-19. The Theater Workshop - like the rest of the world - was forced to isolate themselves in front of computer screens as part of the quarantine they were subjected to, resulting in a cancelled performance. Instead of a performance, the participants created short videos inspired by the plays they were working on.
2020: The Theater Workshop celebrates 20 years of consistent presence in the Department. For the last 10 years it has been directed by Katerina Zachu and supported by Maita Chatziioannidou in poster design - who also designed the group's logo -, by George Fleggas in the film direction of the performances, by Stavroula Tsiara in the supertitling and translation support and throughout the year by Vassoula Makri in encouragement and in the overall work with exercises, texts and performances.
The planned celebration for the 20th anniversary of the Theater Workshop with the participation of old students was postponed until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic!
