Life is a beautiful gift…What matters is what you want out of life (3) the actor declares with a smile.
Antinoos Almpanis reintroduced himself through the successful show of Christoforos Papakaliatis, MAESTRO. Through this show we were given the opportunity to remember how we first met him in Agria Paidia, Mou leipeis, Dyo Meres Mono, Nisos, but also in his theatrical performances –Kata Fanstasian Asthenis, To trito stefani and Adelfoi Karamazov are just some of the performances that we gave us the opportunity to get to know and love him.
In fact, the residents of Thessaloniki had the opportunity to watch and admire him in the sold out show Kapoios na me prosexei – inspired by the song of the legendary Ella Fitzgerald Someone to watch over me (4) – in which he stars. This play, which is based on true events, describes the lives of three hostages locked in a cell in Lebanon under the watchful eye of their terrorists/captors. A performance-ode to the actor and his dramatic talent, simple, without unnecessary scenery and dancers, without intense colors and outside sounds, true and timeless. Guided by imagination and human companionship, it takes us to its world, a world where its heroes, through conflict and emotional transitions, try to cope with the sufferings, the deprivations and the agony of death.
Born in May 1983, Antinoos came in contact with art from a young age. He and his family often visited Athens to go to the theater. His thought as he watched the plays was this: that they – the actors – are having a good time(1). Thus, he graduated from the Greek Art Theatre Karolos Koun and became an actor. His purpose? To understand the world. The first time he bowed before an audience he felt complete, and now he declares that he cannot imagine his life without theater.
A repertory actor, with an abstract and natural style, he is usually attracted to roles that in some way flirt with schizophrenia, with what isn’t real. Why? Because the reality they live in and this flirtation itself scares him.(2)
True, uncomplicated, hardworking, Antinoos is a man who acts on emotion, figures out life step by step and tries to not forget. To not forget his battle with cancer, from which he came out victorious. A battle that made him find new happiness, changed his whole view of life, but also made him capable of accepting fear – embracing it.
We have to go through life together, we need someone’s arms, a hug, we need each other and we shouldn’t be ashamed to ask for help. (2)
I don’t want to dwell on the disease. However, it is worth quoting the words of Antinoos himself, because through them we can understand not only his passion for theater, but also his passion for life.
“We were playing in a magical theater in Arta inside the Castle… there, just before the show ended, it started to rain heavily -but with so much rain and given that it is summertime, one would expect the show to stop and the audience to leave. So there we were, performing in the rain and I was looking at the spectators who were taking off their jackets, hoodies, books, bags, anything and they were so dedicated that they didn’t want it to stop, they wanted to sit there, next to us, by our side, to experience what we were also experiencing, whatever discomfort that was, so long as the show is over. Then I felt this “click” in me for this “togetherness”, for this sharing and something awoke inside… And I said, “you know what? This “togetherness” has a great value and essence, it has a great meaning”. And if I can, through publicizing this problem – cancer – be someone else’s “together” and see him happy and see him content, as I felt happy in that moment on stage, it can change an entire emotional world, to change a look in someone’s eyes.” (1)
In a modern society, which in one way or another may be turning its back on culture and by extent on theater, people like Antinoos urge us to love the art of acting even more and at the same time remind us how important “ together”, “we”, “you and me” is.
REFERENCES
- ΕΡΤ, Πρωίαν σε είδον (2023, 1 Φεβρουαρίου), συνέντευξη https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deBJ_k5bOHc&ab_channel=%CE%95%CE%A1%CE%A4%CE%91.%CE%95.
- Provocateur, Βάνα Κράβαρη (2022), συνέντευξη https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEG0TvJ2GxE&ab_channel=Provocateur
- DownTown Magazine, The Dot (2021, 26 Σεπτεμβρίου), συνέντευξη https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juMRTulMX88&ab_channel=DownTownMagazine
