She can retrace theater performances that built a nest in her heart as a spectator: from New Stage’s Antigone directed by Lefteris Vogiatzis (2006) and Henry IV by Dimitris Mavrikios, all the way to Arguendo by Elevator Repair Service (2013) and Five Easy Pieces by Milo Rau (2019). Moreover, another valuable step in the forming of her identity as an artist came through the rehearsals she attended while studying in New York. “I remember Daniel Aukin’s rehearsals for Heartless, one of the last plays written by Sam Shepard. The way the director spoke to the leading protagonist Lois Smith was so pivotal for me, how he built a bond gifted with discretion, spot-on remarks and respect towards the personality and the work of the actress.”

Taking part in residency programmes abroad also had a positive effect on her work. “In New York, my participation in residencies was one of the ways to gain ground as an artist. Through international collaborations and residencies, I have received a great deal of generosity and support, and often found a safe space for research and experimentation. Sometimes these programs offer a peaceful refuge for thinking, where you can find or develop your next project, free of any pressure. Other times they serve as an informal ‘workshop’, a place where you can try out ideas and get feedback without the fear of failure. Theater, as much as it is based on spoken word, remains an art that derives from the act of meeting with ideas, bodies, cultures. The contact with artists of different backgrounds has enabled me to reconsider my certainties.”

Mistero Buffo, the performance she co-directed with Panos Vlahos, initially staged in 2016 in New York, before appearing in theater festivals held in Chicago, Los Angeles, London and Israel, was certainly a benchmark in her career. “It was one of my first theater productions in New York. I feel deeply grateful for meeting and teaming up with Panos. The process was full of challenges, but we never allowed ourselves to get discouraged by our limited means. There was a sense of devotion and faith in our endeavor, which fuelled us to carry on. When you believe in your work, you nurture the conviction that anything is possible. That’s how we managed to stage this play for two years in a row, in theaters and festivals both in the US and in Europe.  One of the most fascinating elements in this work was no other than its constant evolution and enrichment. We never ceased to discover new aspects of the story, drawing inspiration from our journeys and experiences. Every new city, every different venue and every cultural context added new layers in the staging of the play. Looking back at this crazy ride, I come to realize that Mistero Buffo set the bar really high as to what we feel able to accomplish.”

She has joined forces with Panos Vlahos in yet another major hit, Molière’s Don Juan. Among her most recent works stands out Danny Kelly’s Girls and Boys, which has also been staged in Thessaloniki, featuring Natasa Exintaveloni in the lead role. The play can be described as a gripping monologue that unearths hidden aspects of love, loss and violence, deeply rooted in human nature. Lyto Traintafyllidou’s work often touches upon crucial social and political issues. “Theater has the capacity to transform a social or political thought into a personal moment, offering one more proof that the political is at once deeply personal, as it touches and hurts us, it changes and shapes us. I wish I could confidently say that theater has the power to make the world a better place. It most certainly cannot, at least in a direct and drastic way. Nevertheless, a theater performance can sure as hell serve as the common ground for the collective feeling to be expressed.”

While referring to the contemporary trends and tendencies, she makes mention to the growing interaction of theater with technology and the social reality. “We live in an era where the avant-garde theater breakthroughs that date back in the 1970s have been standardized and fully integrated in the theatrical language, often giving the impression that ‘it’s all been said and done’. However, and despite the technological advancements and the new narrative forms, what keeps on moving us is the human transcendence that occurs on stage, which can be conveyed in many ways: physically, mentally, conceptually. This moment of transformation, where the actors and the theatrical act transcend the boundaries of the expected and the ordinary, render the theatrical experience necessary for every human being.”

In the times of radical technological progress, she believes that theater is compelled to cross the threshold of self-reflection. “Not out of fear, but out of the need to explore the new possibilities that emerge. I don’t align with the artists who view Artificial Intelligence as a threat. On the contrary, I am fascinated by the prospect of expanding the boundaries of theater. I think we are bound to soon overcome the barriers of language that often define and restrain theater performances. Maybe then we’ll be able to travel more easily, not only geographically but also conceptually, delving into new channels of communications and narration. Theater has always been a space of exploration and transformation. Now, with new tools at our disposal, we enter into a new field of discoveries. And I find every prospect of that kind to be nothing less than thrilling.”