A new play entitled “One in Ten” will be presented at the Neos Cosmos Theatre in the new theatre season in Athens. It is based on the real-life experiences of three men who emigrate to Greece and is the result of a collaboration between the actors and the director Laertes Vassileiou.

From Kathimerini

David came to Greece from Tbilisi, Georgia. “What! Are you Jewish? From now on your name will be Alekos!” his first Greek employer instructed him.

Chris came from Russe, Bulgaria. When asked where he comes from, he replies: Rafina. The blond boy does not want people to consider him “xenos” - a stranger.

Enkelent is from Pogradec, Albania. At a drama school in Athens he was asked to improvise. “Be an Indian!” Afterwards his instructor praised him before the whole class: “You see how perfectly he performs! That’s the way it is! You can never deny your roots!” It is not only in the musical Chorus Line that drama teachers talk this way.

Kathimerini journalist Spyros Payiatakis writes:

Although obstinately denied, Greek feelings toward immigrants are, let’s face it, overwhelmingly negative. The gloomy truth is that racism and fear of the «Balkan other» is an everyday reality for the Greek population.

With the quite manifest tendency to look at the outside world primarily from the perspective of their own culture, many Greeks live in the firm belief that their own race and ethnic group is the most important of all.

Read the full article from Kathimerini here

Exact details and dates are unavailable at the moment. I will update as soon as I find out and remind you to go and see it.

UPDATE: Thank you very much George, for finding the telephone number of the theatre. Here it is… tel: 210-9212-900

Technorati: Greece, Athens, theatre, immigration, racism, xenophobia