MATAROA | Kalliopi Simou

To stimulate the audience through our own productions and interesting projects, joining forces with directors full of ideas who have something new and fresh to propos.

Kalliopi Simou

The art, the aesthetic, the vision

Text: Dimitra Kehagia

Actress, performer, director, choreographer and artistic director of the Municipal-Regional Theater of Veria until 2026, Kalliopi Simou describes herself as open to changes, more than lucky in her partnerships, grateful and satisfied, while avoiding to place labels, positive or negative, on herself and other people, as they tend to deter any changes that may be in store. Music and dance came into her life right from an early age, she made a profession out of the latter later on, and it did not take long for her to turn to body theater. “I like to intertwine different features. After all, the theater, acting, music and dance all share a series of common codes. I also take delight in discovering tools and techniques,” she mentions.

“Music and movement are structural elements of acting. For example, to lift a glass and put it back down can very well be viewed as a kinetic phrase.” The analysis and the recomposition of this phrase to its fundamental components is a key pillar of the way she perceives her work on stage; her method was further developed after teaming up with Dimitris Papaioannou. Her partnership alongside the internationally acclaimed director, choreographer and dancer has offered her unforgettable moments, with their two world tours topping the list. It goes without saying that all these beautiful moments came after hard and persistent work; it’s safe to say that Kalliopi Simou was in no position to rejoice her success as it happened, but only at a later stage.

“In the heat of the moment I’m so exhausted and caught up in what is taking place in real time that even though I can tell that it’s a success I fail to experience it as such. However, as soon as the work begins to bear fruit, then my entire life is endowed with a whole new meaning. There’s no greater satisfaction than success coming after a lot of time, work and effort.” What she stands out in Dimitris Papaioannou is his patience and the way he manages to embrace so many and so different cases of people, while providing them with the freedom to operate exactly as they are.

“This does not mean that tensions are all of a sudden eliminated, it may as well be just the opposite at times, but he sure does know how to make people feel free, which can be seen as quite a contradiction given the perfectly disciplined outcome of his work. Nevertheless, freedom can be born out of the most rigorous restrictions.” She was the one to reach out to Dimitris Papaioannou, as had once knocked on the door of painter Yannis Tsarouchis many years ago. “You have to seek the people who inspire you,” she points out.

Hard work, matched by boldness, persistence and love for her art paved the way for the post of the artistic director of the Municipal-Regional Theater of Veria in summer 2023, an institution she wishes to upgrade, having set the production of original artistic work as her top priority. “To stimulate the audience through our own productions and interesting projects, joining forces with directors full of ideas who have something new and fresh to propose, which will find its way to the hearts of the people of Veria and of the entire region. Featuring a series of original productions and guest directors who will blend in with the local crew, fueling one another, allowing the audience to undergo a shaking and out-of-the-ordinary experience.”

Art is the aestheticization of the vision, of the soul, of the dream, but it is also a costly process. There’s no way around this: we need all the understanding and the support we can get from the state.

Kalliopi Simou

She feels happy to have returned to Veria, her birthplace, after spending many years in Athens. Nevertheless, she considers it a vital part of her role – to the extent allowed by her administrative and organizational duties – to travel to other cities in Greece or abroad as often as possible and meet people, so as to enrich her programming as an artistic director. “Municipal-Regional Theaters are mostly based in small cities, therefore if you fail to move enough to broaden your horizons, you’ll end up incapable of offering something meaningful to the place you were asked to serve.” The greatest difficulty she is faced up against in her new post is no other than the meager financing received by Municipal-Regional Theaters. “Art is the aestheticization of the vision, of the soul, of the dream, but it is also a costly process. There’s no way around this: we need all the understanding and the support we can get from the state.”

As soon as she took over, she made sure to address an open call to all artists (directors, actors, dancers, choreographers, performers, set designers, costume designers, composers, musicians, visual artists etc.) either residing in Imathia or having origins from this region, in order to build a pool of artists working in the fields of theaters and representational arts.

“The active artists of the local scene were completely unknown to me, as I have been away for years, that’s why I came up with the idea of creating a database that would include the artists residing in Imathia and the ones who have origins from the region but work elsewhere. I made this decision as I thought it would prove helpful not only for my tenure, but for my successor as well.”

The artistic director of the Municipal-Regional Theater of Veria believes that a good director should single out for the ability to craft a coherent world on stage and cope with a number of different situations and vibes, whereas a good actor for the willingness to listen carefully and the effort to constantly evolve. “To find a vital importance in what he/she does, to discover the reason for being there, this attitude fuels the entire team with positive energy,” she stresses, while adding that it is imperative for all theater artists to keep their feet on the ground so as not to lose the ability to connect with the here-and-now of their times.

The quality and the amount of the attention we channel towards everything makes all the difference. “The way you’ll show up in the rehearsal, the way you’ll listen. And of course, the work. A talent with no work at all may trigger the danger of narcissistic hues and tones. In other words, you won’t be able to relate to the story you are unfolding.”

She considers theater an almost inherent human need, as storytelling has been a part of our world for centuries. As for herself, she never wishes to stop experimenting, intertwining language, movement and sound. Theater-wise she is intrigued by any new and innovative approach, as long as it doesn’t become incomprehensible and unreachable for the audience. “The more loud and clear your message is the easier it’ll be to reach out to the audience and serve as an emotional passageway,” she concludes.

Bio
Kalliopi Simou studied at the School of Drama of AUTh’s Faculty of Fine Arts and the National Theater of Northern Greece-Drama School, graduating with honors in 2001 and 2003 respectively. Since 2005 she has been working in theater, having teamed up with major directors such as, among others, Dimitris Papaioannou, Robert Wilson, Stathis Livathinos, Konstantinos Rigos, Katerina Evangelatos, Thomas Moschopoulos, Yannis Houvardas, Euripides Laskaridis, Sofia Vgenopoulou, Thanos Papakonstantinou, Argyro Chioti, Prodromos Tsinikoris. She has also joined forces with prestigious institutions and organizations such the National Theater of Greece, the Théâtre de la Ville, the National Opera House of Greece, the National Theater of Northern Greece, the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, the Onassis Stegi etc.