The Gamblers by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, helmed by up-and-coming director Maria Varnakkidou with a strong cast and creative team will be the second production at Thoc’s New Stage, which will premiere on 7 January 2023.  The production is presented in collaboration with the National Betting Authority.

An experienced gambler and notorious cheat arrives at an inn in a provincial Russian town, looking for his next victim. There, he encounters over-eager employees and a group of fellow card sharps who share his passion for gambling. Their meeting will be full of upsets and unpredictability, with no one able to tell a fraudster from an honest dealer.

Gogol began writing his comedy between 1832 and 1837, completing it in 1842. It was first staged, albeit in a censored version, in 1843. As the writer satirically uncovers the dark corners and the passions of the human soul, everything is a frenetic game of masks and disguises, in which the lines between truth and falsehood, honour and infamy, and sincerity and hypocrisy are blurred and indistinct.

The play’s young director, Maria Varnakkidou, enters into its satirical spirit, identifying truths that resonate to this day and highlighting the decay that lies at the heart of the human condition.

Credits

Translation, Adaptation: Giorgos Koutlis
Director: Maria Varnakkidou
Sets & costumes: Konstantina Andreou
Movement: Lia Charaki
Music: Panos Bartzis
Lighting design: Stavros Tartaris
Directing assistant: Loukia Pieridou

Cast: Giorgos Christoforidis, Petros Giorkatzis, Antonis Katsaris, Kleitos Komodikis, Marios Konstantinou, Yiannis Minos

Performances

Nicosia | Thoc New Stage
from 7 January 2023
Friday and Saturday at 8.30pm and Sunday at 6 pm.

Ιn collaboration with