Ο Monday, May 9th, at the iconic Olympia Theatre, Maria Callas Municipal Music Theatre, took place the award ceremony of the “Karolos Koun” Awards 2020/21 and the Theatre and Music Review Awards 2020/21, organized by the Municipality of Athens through the Culture, Sports and Youth Organization of the Municipality of Athens and the Association of Greek Theatre and Music Critics.

As no awards were presented in 2020 due to the pandemic, the world of theatre and music honoured this year the institution that completes 26 years since its birth, creating a warm atmosphere with a lot of emotion. The Awards are the product of a collaboration between the Municipality of Athens and the Greek Theatre and Music Critics’ Association, one of the oldest and most important intellectual associations in the country, founded in 1928, which aims at the impartial promotion and support of artistic creation and its scientific documentation.

The event contributes to the preservation of the cultural physiognomy of the capital and the stimulation of intellectual life in the region and the international promotion of Greek creation, through special categories of honorary distinctions.

The Mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, at the opening of the ceremony, warmly thanked the Association of Greek Theatre and Music Critics for its work, as well as all those who, since 1988, have contributed to making the event a true institution that unites us all, and stressed, among other things:

“Today we are sending a strong message that despite the difficulties and repeated crises, the culture of the city and its people are here and are strong. Culture is the blood that runs in the veins of the city and the truth is that while it was tested during the pandemic, the people of culture may have been bent but not broken.  Precisely because they have that inner strength.

We as the Municipal Authority and the entire Municipal Council do everything we can to stand and support the people of culture. Our aim is to bring culture to every corner, to all the neighbourhoods of Athens. “To make the whole city a stage!”.

At the ceremony, the Mayor of Athens Kostas Bakoyannis awarded the “Karolos Koun” Award for Directing a Greek Project to Petros Zoulias for the performance “Marika”.

The President of the Culture, Sports and Youth Organization of the Municipality of Athens, Niki Arabatzi, presented the Actor’s Performance Award for a Greek Play to George Psychogios for Tyndareo in “Orestes”, while Christoforos Christofis received the Dramatic Actor in a Greek Play Award for his play “The Call of Prometheus” from King Axelos, Municipal Councillor and member of the Board of Directors of OPANDA.

The Grand Prize for Theatre was awarded to Marianna Kalbari for “Edmond“. The International Theatre Repertory Prize was awarded to Sophia Karagianni for “Plague“, while the Ancient Drama Prize was awarded to Savvas Stroumbos for “Antigone”. In the category of Young Theatre Artist, the prize was awarded to Pantelis Flatsousis for his productions: “Italian Night”, “Kypseli – new kids on the block”, “The Soldiers”, “Wrong Country”, while praise was given to Amalia Klimopoulou for “Hilda” and Dimitris Mangina for “Edmond”. The Theatrical Literature Prize was awarded to the work “Greek bibliography of theatrical plays, dialogues and monologues 1900-1940” by Chrysothemidis Stamatopoulou-Vasilakou. Finally, praise was given to the artists Stavros Dalkos, Danae Kalachora and Yannis Tsiros.

The Award to a New Artist of Music was awarded to Stathis Karapanos for his “Flute Concerto” by Hatsaturian, while the Aegina International Music Festival received the Award to a Cultural Organization of the Region. In the category of Composition, the Prize was awarded to

“From Berlin to Athens. Piano Works by Nikos Skalkottas” (BIS) – Lorenda Ramou and a commendation was given to “Greek Muse” (IRIDA) – Efi Agrafiotis and Myrsini Margariti. The Musicological Writing Award was awarded to two nominees: “Sound as a material in contemporary music creation” by Anastasia Georgakis and “The musical good. Theories of artistic value” by Markos Tsetsos.

The Theatre and Dance Jury 2020/21 is composed of theatre critics:

Leander Polenakis (chairman), Anthoula Daniel, Konstantinos Bouras, Kalliopi Rapanaki and dance critic Andreas Rikakis.

The Music Jury is the music critics: Georgios Kyrkos-Tayas (chairman), Athanasios Vavlidas, Sophia Theofanous-Mattheoudaki, Thanos Mantzanas and Eftihios Choriatakis.

The presentation of the event was made by the actress and well-known ERT announcer Olyna Xenopoulou.

The symbol of the Theatre and Music Critics’ Awards is a gold-plated exact replica of a Hellenistic wreath, which was discovered in a royal tomb in Attica and is kept in the Benaki Museum, while that of the Karolos Koun Awards is a replica of the Sun, created by the painter Diamantis Diamantopoulos for the needs of directing Euripides’ tragedy Alcestis – the first ancient drama directed by Karolos Koun.