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Still marked by his Cypriot accent, Eugeniou staged a production of
George Eugeniou
Theatro Technis' website.
''Guardian'' article about a past production.
Theatro Technis on King's Collections : Archive Catalogues : GREEK DIASPORA ARCHIVE.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eugeniou, George Greek theatre directors Theatre practitioners 1931 births Living people People from Limassol British theatre directors Cypriot writers People associated with political theatre Theatre companies in London
George Eugeniou (born June 1931) is a Cypriot actor, director and writer. He is the founder and artistic director of Theatro Technis in London, England, which was established in 1957.
anthology TV series: ''Amerika'', Early life and career
George Eugeniou was born inLimassol
Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...
, Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
. He came to London in 1950 to study theatre with the support of his eldest sister, Loula Ionnides, and her family.
He trained at Morley College
Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the la ...
, where he met Frank Drew, who gave him free lessons in diction and voice. With Drew's help, Eugeniou received a scholarship at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art Webber may refer to:
*Webber, Kansas, a US city
*Webber Township, Jefferson County, Illinois, USA
*Webber Township, Lake County, Michigan, USA
*Webber International University, in Babson Park, Florida, USA
*Webber (surname)
Webber (/ˈwɛbər/) i ...
, where he won a Spotlight and a Webber Cup awards for his acting abilities.
Theatre
In 1954 he joinedDundee Repertory Theatre
Dundee Repertory Theatre, better known simply as the Dundee Rep, is a theatre and arts company in the city of Dundee, Scotland. It operates as both a producing house - staging at least six of its own productions each year, and a receiving house ...
company in Scotland as assistant stage manager, while also performing small parts. Then, he returned to London and joined a Cypriot amateur group under the auspices of The Cypriot Brotherhood with Paul Stasino, Anna Koutayiar and Theo Moreas. One year later he joined Sir Donald Wolfit
Sir Donald Wolfit, KBE (born Donald Woolfitt; Harwood, Ronald"Wolfit, Sir Donald (1902–1968)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008; accessed 14 July 2009 20 April 1902 ...
's company which was performing the play ''The Strong are Lonely'', touring all the major cities of England ending at Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England.
Early years
Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...
first and then at the Haymarket Theatre. In 1956, he joined Joan Littlewood
Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...
's Theatre Workshop in Stratford East with several productions, including ''The Quare Fellow ''The Quare Fellow'' is Brendan Behan's first play, first produced in 1954. The title is taken from a Hiberno-English pronunciation of ''queer''.
Plot
The play is set in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin. The anti-hero of the play, The Quare Fellow, is never ...
'' by Brendan Behan
Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English an ...
.
Film and Television work
Virgin of the Secret Service (TV Series): ''The Great Ring of Akba'',Theatre 625
''Theatre 625'' is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production a ...
a BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Love Story (1973 TV series)
''Love Story'' is an American dramatic anthology television series focused on stories of romance. It aired from October 3, 1973, to January 2, 1974, on NBC.Alex McNeil, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Pr ...
: ''A Toy Soldier'' and ''Chase the Shadows'', ''That Riviera Touch
''That Riviera Touch'' is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. It is the second feature-length film made by the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise.
The film opened at the Leicester Square T ...
'' film, ''Drama 61-67
''Drama 61-67'' is a British anthology drama series which took a different title, based on year of transmission, each year.British Television, An Illustrated Guide, Oxford University Press, 1994, p.100 It alternated with ''Armchair Theatre
...
'' (TV Series): ''The Trouble with England'', ''Danger Man
''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...
'' (TV Series): ''Yesterday's Enemies'', ''The Plane Makers
''The Plane Makers'' is a British television series created by Wilfred Greatorex and produced by Rex Firkin. ATV made three series for ITV between 1963 and 1965. It was succeeded by ''The Power Game'', which ran for an additional three s ...
'' (TV Series): ''A Bunch of Fives'', '' Ghost Squad'' (TV Series): ''Quarantine at Kavar'' and ''The Magic Bullet'', ''Man of the World'': ''Jungle Mission'' and ''The Sentimental Agent
''The Sentimental Agent'' is a television drama series spin-off from '' Man of the World.'' It was produced in the United Kingdom in 1963 by Associated Television and distributed by ITC Entertainment.
The series ran for 13 one-hour monochrome ...
'', ''The Interrogator'', ''The Kitchen'' based on Arnold Wesker
Sir Arnold Wesker (24 May 1932 – 12 April 2016) was an English dramatist. He was the author of 50 plays, four volumes of short stories, two volumes of essays, much journalism and a book on the subject, a children's book, some poetry, and oth ...
's play, Danger Man (TV Series): ''Bury the Dead'', BBC Sunday-Night Play (TV Series): ''Pay Day'', '' Scotland Yard (TV series)'': ''Interpol'', ''Dial 999'' TV, ''Act of Terror'' TV, ''The Third Man (TV series)
''The Third Man'' is a TV series which ran from 1959 to 1965. It was based on the novel and film ''The Third Man'' and starred Michael Rennie as Harry Lime. Lime is now an international private investigator.
The series was a co-production betwe ...
'', ''Three Dancing Turtles'', ''Julius Caesar'' TV, BBC Saturday-Night Theatre (TV Series): ''The Picnic at Sakkara'', ''The Strong Are Lonely'', ''The Angry Hills'', '' I Was Monty's Double'', ''The Truth About Melandrinos'' (TV Series), ''The Power and the Glory'' (TV Movie), ''Indian man'', ''Santa Claus in a Jeep'', ''Kill Me Tomorrow
''Kill Me Tomorrow'' is a 1957 British crime film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Pat O'Brien and Lois Maxwell. It was made by Tempean Films at Southall Studios in West London.
The film features a cameo by Tommy Steele.Tom Weaver, ''The H ...
'' film, ''Ill Met by Moonlight'', Dixon of Dock Green
''Dixon of Dock Green'' was a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 19 ...
(TV Series).
Author
*Adaptation of AristophanesThe Knights
''The Knights'' ( grc, Ἱππεῖς ''Hippeîs''; Attic: ) was the fourth play written by Aristophanes, who is considered the master of an ancient form of drama known as Old Comedy. The play is a satire on the social and political life of cla ...
named ''Oh Democracy!''
*''Cassandra `s Choice'' (poems)
*''Cyprus Trilogy'' -3 plays by George Eugeniou
*'The Goon Trilogy': "Burnt Cakes", "Good Guys", "Forza Galileo" (Hardback)
Theatro Technis
In 1957, Eugeniou founded Theatro Technis, which was neither commercial nor subsidised, with the help of a group of actors, workers and students, including Andreas Markou, Stelios Kyriacou, Medea O'Brennon, Andy Lysandrou andSpyros Kyprianou
Spyros Achilleos Kyprianou ( el, Σπύρος Κυπριανού; 28 October 1932 – 12 March 2002) was one of the most prominent politicians and barristers of modern Cyprus. He served as the second president of Cyprus from 1977 to 1988.
...
. Theatro Technis can be defined as a "radical and total" theatre as Eugeniou's philosophy is to break barriers between nationalities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, classes, ages and languages. Eugeniou has totally dedicated himself to Theatro Technis, abandoning his career as a mainstream actor, apart from a few movies in the 1950s and '60s.
As Theatro Technis' artistic director he devised, directed and acted in numerous productions, often inspired by Cypriot or Greek artists and events. At Theatro Technis Eugeniou has staged: Ancient Greek Drama plays that explore problems that confront the Cypriot community in the UK, promoted new writing by Cypriot Greek writers like Stavros Lilitos sponsored the staging of international plays by visiting companies like Griselda Gambaro
Griselda Gambaro (born 24 July 1928) is an Argentine writer, whose novels, plays, short stories, story tales, essays and novels for teenagers often concern the political violence in her home country that would develop into the Dirty War. One recu ...
`s `The Chinese Twins`, and Japan`s Mugensha Theatre Company. and championing Justin Butcher's ''The Madness of George Dubya'', reviewed by ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
s Michael Billington "Satire is all but dead on the London stage, so this show by Justin Butcher deserves the warmest of welcomes. Even if it is largely a topical update of Kubrick's Dr Strangelove, it had a packed house at this north London fringe theatre cheering it to the echo." The successful run of “The Madness of George Dubya” at Theatro Technis led to its transfer to the Pleasance Theatre in Islington and also garnered support from celebrities such as Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is ...
.
Eugeniou was among the first to produce plays written or acted by black personalities such as Mark Heath, Harcourt Nichols, and Peter Blackman. Eugeniou has helped hundreds of student from all over London and abroad, proposing work-experiences or internships, free of charge. His passion for alternative theatre remains a common thread in his work as he always believes that the creative spirit is not for sale.
Still marked by his Cypriot accent, Eugeniou staged a production of Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...
' famous satires, as ''Women in Parliament'', in June 2013.
Corona update
`Theatro Technis is one of first theatres to bring audiences back inside`Help to the Cypriot community
In 1967, he initiated the Cyprus Week, an annual festival to highlight the Cypriot culture and way of life in the United Kingdom and to create a greater awareness of the struggle ofCyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
against British colonialism and Turkish invasion of Cyprus
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of intercommunal violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and in response to a Greek junta-s ...
. He is also one of the founders of the National Federation of Cypriots in England, an umbrella organisation of more than one hundred Cypriot organisations.
In 1968, he created the first Cypriot Advisory Service in the United Kingdom, which has helped thousands of Cypriot migrants and refugees receive welfare benefits, education, or housing. He also instigated and helped build the Cyprus Villages Housing in partnership with St Pancras Housing Association in the late 1980s. This "from life to art to life" philosophy is a cornerstone of his work.
Personal life
In 1969, George Eugeniou married Maroulla Sekkides, who became an actress with Theatro Technis. They have a son Aris, who is also dedicated to the theatre.References
External links
George Eugeniou
Theatro Technis' website.
''Guardian'' article about a past production.
Theatro Technis on King's Collections : Archive Catalogues : GREEK DIASPORA ARCHIVE.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eugeniou, George Greek theatre directors Theatre practitioners 1931 births Living people People from Limassol British theatre directors Cypriot writers People associated with political theatre Theatre companies in London