The Ballad of the Bridge

Τhe Theatrical Workshop of the University of Cyprus (THEPAK) presents the play “The Ballad of the Bridge” – a dramatic stage adaptation based on the most expressive versions of the folk ballad “The Bridge at Arta” as preserved in Cyprus, Pontus, Crete, and Epirotic Greece. The play is the first of four plays from THEPAK’s repertoire that constitute a “Cypriot Tetralogy” with which the Theatrical Workshop and the Cultural Centre of the University of Cyprus will mark the 50th anniversary of the Republic of Cyprus. The Tetralogy includes the plays “The Cyprus Chronicle” by Leontios Machairas (15th century), “The Ballad of the Bridge” (based on demotic songs from the Middle Ages), “Romiosyni” by Vassilis Michaelides (19th century), and Aristophanes’s “Lysistrata” translated and adapted into Cypriot dialect by Costas Montis (20th century). Each of the four plays presents the world of Cyprus from a different perspective (that of history, ethnography, literature, musical tradition), reveals different stages in the development of Cypriot dialect (medieval, renaissance, modern), delves into different historical circumstances (Frankish, Venetian, Turkish domination). The remaining three works of the “Cypriot Tetralogy” will be performed in the course of the Cultural Festival of the University of Cyprus (June, July and October), while “The Ballad of the Bridge” will also be presented abroad (Italy, France, Germany) with the inclusion of scenes and narration in the local language.

Theatrical Workshop of the University of Cyprus
Director: Michalis Pieris