As part of a new series of events organized by the Athens & Epidaurus Festival entitled Autumn – ECHOES, which focuses on the repetition/presentation of some of its productions that have unexhausted potential, Pireos 260 welcomes Mario Banushi back.

The show Taverna Miresia – Mario, Bella, Anastasia returns from December 14 to 29, 2025, inviting us to confront memory, loss, and adulthood. Piraeus 260, remaining a place of encounter and creation even after the end of the summer months of the Festival, welcomes the well-travelled performance, loved by audiences and critics around the world.

It all starts with an unexpected event that took place under the sign of a family tavern in a suburb of Tirana. This event marks the life of the family’s young son. Years later, as an adult and now a director, Banushi brings this sign from Albania to the theater stage, placing it at the core of the world he is building. What else does this sign have to illuminate?

Personal memories become the stuff of drama and are transformed into a ritual of catharsis. The tavern is reestablished as a place where the past meets the present: where his recently deceased father, the tavern’s cook and owner, welcomed customers every evening; and where now, around a family table with empty chairs, everything that was never said is heard. Mario says goodbye to his father and begins the long journey to adulthood.

“Taverna Miresia” means “Tavern Kindness” in Albanian, while the names Mario, Bella, and Anastasia correspond to the names of the creator and his two sisters—underlining the deeply personal nature of the work.

With this performance, Banushi completed the trilogy that began with Ragada and continued with Goodbye, Lindita; a trilogy in which each part draws inspiration from his mother, stepmother, and finally, his father.

The play is being presented for the third time in Greece and has already traveled to Italy, Switzerland, Romania, Germany, Belgium, Canada, Britain, and Taiwan. The performance is a co-production of TooFarEast and the Athens & Epidaurus Festival.

The journey of a play

The play Taverna Miresia – Mario, Bella, Anastasia was first presented at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival in 2023 (National Theater, Eleni Papadaki Stage) as part of grape, the Greek Agora of Performance, the Festival’s platform for promoting Greek creativity abroad.

It was presented again in 2024 at Peiraios 260 and also traveled to the following venues abroad:

– Teszt Festival, Timisoara, Romania, May 2024

– Zürcher Theater Spektakel, Zurich, Switzerland, August 2024

– TeatroStabile, Turin, Italy, November – December 2024

– Thalia Theater, Hamburg, Germany, January 2025

– DeSingel, Antwerp, Belgium, May 2025

– FTA – Festival TransAmériques, Montreal, Canada, May 2025

– The Coronet Theatre, London, United Kingdom, June 2025

– National Theater and Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan, November 2025

The next stop will be in March 2026 at the Comédie de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland.

Cast and Crew

Conception– Director Μario Βanushi
Set and Costume Design Sotiris Melanos
Lighting Design Eliza Alexandropoulou
Composer Jeph Vanger
Vocal improvisation Savvina Giannatou
Dramaturgy assistant Aspasia-Maria Alexiou
Assistant Director Sofia Antoniou
Costume Designer assistant Vasiana Skopetea
Lighting adaptation Marietta Pavlaki
Sound console operator Kostas Chaidos (2023)
Executive Director Giorgos Antonopoulos
Photos Nasia Stouraiti, Theofilos Tsimas

The Actors Chryssi Vidalaki, Savina Giannatou, Pinelopi Tsoutsouva (2025), Katerina Christo (2023 – 2025), Eftychia Stefanou, Mario Banushi

Tour organized by  TooFarEast / Νikos Mavrakis
Production by TooFarEast / Αristedis Kreatsoulas

In collaboration with “Theatro sti sala”

A TooFarEast and Athens and Epidaurus Festival co-production

INFO

Pireos 260, Venue Η

Shows: 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 December 2025

Starting Time: 21.00 ( Sundays at 20.00)

Duration: 70 minutes