“The Apaches of Athens” by Nikos Xadjiapostolou in libretto by Yannis Prineas – Directed by Alexandros Efklidis

Lyric Theatre Company “Rafis” presents Nikos Hadjiapostoulou’s operetta “The Apaches of Athens” with Yannis Prineas’ libretto. The director of the performance is Alexandros Efklidis. The instrumentation and the music arrangement are organized by Michalis Papapetrou. For six performances (from 21st to 30th December 2012, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays) at Michael Cacoyannis Foundation.

Having the belief that operetta is a present-time art, the new production of “The Apaches” tries to bring back the social debate that is the core of the play and it attempts to transfer that debate in the historical centre of contemporary Athens.

Who are the contemporary Apaches? In multicultural Athens of the 21st century -among the artistic pluralism and the economic crisis- the comical characters of the play are vindicating their space and actuality by singing some of the most famous and beloved hits in Greek Musical Theater’s Repertoire.

The Play
The term “apache” – that is forgotten nowadays- it was used during the Mid-War period and it comes from the Indian Apaches. It was figuratively used in order to characterize the marginal and dangerous Parisian tramps.

“The Apaches of Athens” (1921) was for its time and during the whole Mid-War period, the most successful play of the totally forgotten Greek operetta. In a 293.000-inhabitant Athens, only for Apaches’ two first years of presentation, 650 performances were given. Performances were given even in Africa and America.

The play has a libretto that was written by the socialist Yannis Prineas and it represents an urban view of all Athenian social classes during the Mid-war. “The Apaches of Athens” was a popular play -according to the extend of its audience.

The most recent performance of “The Apaches” was given in 2008-2009 theatrical period by the Greek National Opera (director: Isidoros Sideris / Music Arrangement: George Aravidis).

The Performance
This new production of the “Apaches” attempts to revise Hadjiapostolou’s musical script both with respect and dare, always by the aid of new and experienced lyric singers. The core of the new performance is the authentic and original score that is re-read by the thirty-year-old musician Michalis Papapetrou.

The well-known director Alexandros Euklidis (Yasou Aida!) notes:
“In our performance, we are taking as starting point the superimposed worlds of the edges. Just as in the prototype play, where a geographical proximity of wealthy and poor inhabitants is obvious, in contemporary Athens the urban narration is mixing the social classes by making them meeting spatiotemporally but not necessarily coexisting. At the entrances of the art-galleries in Metaxourgio -where the “crème de la crème” of the Athenian creativity and the last wave of the journalistic lifestyle industry are exposing (usually political) their speculations- the new-age Apaches are crumbled as the exhibits one of the most gruesome creations of European humanism. The superimposing of these worlds – beyond any moral inquiry- consists the dramaturgical core of “the Apaches” and nowadays, it is interesting while the city of Athens tends to coincide with its marginal groups.