THE VISITOR
2023 - 2024
Michael Cacoyannis Foundation

At the Theatre of the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation
Directed by Sotiris Tsafoulias
“The Visitor” by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, at the Theatre of the Michalis Cacoyannis Foundation, directed by Sotiris Tsafoulias.
Sotiris Tsafoulias returns to the stage of the Michalis Cacoyannis Foundation with Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s, ‘The Visitor‘, featuring a talented cast. He directs a play rich in emotions and contrasts, ideas, and quests. The fictional story intertwines with true events from the life of the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, allowing the author to delve into the mysteries of human nature and the great ideological and metaphysical questions of existence.
Vienna, 1938.
The Nazis have invaded Austria and are persecuting the Jews. Sigmund Freud still believes in the future and refuses to leave. But on this afternoon in April, the Gestapo arrests his daughter Anna and takes her for interrogation. Freud is left alone and desperate when, suddenly, an unknown person enters through the window. Who is he? A madman? A magician? Is this all just a dream? Is he an incarnation of Freud’s subconscious? Or is he, as he claims, God Himself?
The exceptional Manos Vakousis plays the role of the Visitor, while Fotis Thomaidis portrays Freud. Maria Papalambrou plays Anna Freud, and Dimitris Papadatos plays the Officer.
Note from Sotiris Tsafoulias
“When I read Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s play The Visitor, a phrase from Euripides came to my mind: ‘What is God? What is not God? And what is in between?’
The conversation between the atheist Freud and the Visitor at the heart of this allegorical play seems like the summary of a discussion on a topic that will always concern and divide people, not just among themselves, but also within each of us. This play won me over because of the bold way in which it raises questions, while maintaining an exceptional balance in the reasoning that approaches the questions it poses. It is passionate and respectful, and it doesn’t offer answers. And that is exactly what makes this work not only philosophical but deeply erotic.
Because Love hides in the Questions.”
PRODUCTION DETAILS
The Visitor by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
Translation: Sotiris Tsafoulias – Antonis Galeos
Direction: Sotiris Tsafoulias
Set and Costume Design: Polytymi Machaiera
Music Composition: Thodoris Oikonomou
Lighting Design: Sotiris Tsafoulias – Elena Petropoulou
Cast: Manos Vakousis, Maria Papalambrou, Fotis Thomaidis, Dimitris Papadatos
Production: Robin4Arts