ANDREAS FLOURAKIS

Andreas Flourakis is a playwright and director. He has written more than thirty works for theater, which have been translated into many languages, including English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Turkish, Romanian, Polish, Albanian, Hindi, and Finnish. They have been presented both in Greece and internationally at such theaters and venues as Royal Court Theatre (London), Art Theatre Karolos Koun (Athens), the National Theater of Spain (Madrid), Lincoln Center Theater (New York), Gate Theatre (London), West Yorkshire Playhouse (Leeds), Stegi, Onassis Cultural Centre (Athens), Tristan Bates Theatre (London), Epi Kolono (Athens), National Theater of Albania (Tirana), Beep (Athens), Stella Adler Studio of Acting (New York), Theatre of the South (Athens), Maison d’Europe et d’Orient (Paris), and Theatre Skrow (Athens). His plays have been performed at a number of festivals as well, for example, HotINK (New York), Helsinki Festival (Helsinki), Gi60 (New York), Oyun Yaz Festival (Istanbul), International Monodrama Festival (Pafos, Cyprus), Cultural Olympiad (Athens), and the Comparative Drama Conference (Los Angeles). Among his awards are honorable mention in the one-act play contest of the Art Theatre Karolos Koun (2003), selection by the Janus Project for New Plays and New Playwriting Across Europe (2006), second prize in the one-act play contest organized by the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Rhodes (2008), third prize in the International Monodrama contest of the UNESCO International Theatre Institute (2006-2008), a Writer-in- Residence Award at the Royal Court International Residency (United Kingdom), and a Fulbright Artists Award (United States). In 2014 his play, Strong Knees, was selected as one of a trio of winners in the Eurodram biennial playwriting contest. He has also served as Visiting Professor of Playwriting at the University of Kansas.

Evangelidou Mirto: How does a play arise?

Andreas Flourakis: It just does. Sometimes the process is a bit more organized, sometimes it’s wandering in chaos. I am always between those two poles. Planning, structure, plot, characters, on one side; dream, allegory, randomness, imagination, paradox on the other.

Evangelidou Mirto: Do you make use of subversion in your plays to address the basic issues of these times?

Andreas Flourakis: But my objectives in writing are not confined to current events . . . I like small twists of luck and big upheavals in the plot. Between these extremes, one can spot the heart of each play.

Evangelidou Mirto: What do you consider the biggest flaw in Greek society?

Andreas Flourakis: Its inability to act heroically. On the other hand, this reluctance is a survival mechanism, so who can condemn those who do not take such a radical decision “lightly?” Our society cannot continue as it is, but what happens when there is nothing outside it to finish it off or succeed it? Perhaps, somehow, at the core of my work is a little awareness that Cavafy’s “barbarians” are largely within us.

Visit Andreas' website:  www.andreasflourakis.com