John Azarias always felt society was incumbent to promote creativity.

For him personally, the opportunity to do so presented itself in May 2014, following a serendipitous stroll through Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens when, together with his wife Dr Patricia Azarias, he found himself before the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates – a replica of the original, erected in Athens in 334BC by choregos Lysicrates in commemoration of his triumph in the Theatre of Dionysus competition.

Familiar with the monument and its significance, they couldn’t help but noticed the sandstone’s poor condition.

“Humans put up monuments and we think that they will be remembered through them and then people do not see them any more; they become transparent. And that happened to this monument,” Mr Azarias told Neos Kosmos.

It was at that moment that he was inspired to take the initiative to restore the memorial, and subsequently form the Lysicrates Foundation.

As an executive director on various boards, and a former diplomat, Mr Azarias set about making phone calls in search of people’s generosity. Being a part of Australia’s history, he discovered people were very happy to support the initiative.

“The Greek community were the first ones who responded,” he says, though adds that he didn’t want to rely on one sector of the community alone, recognising it as a collective Sydney project.

“The donors have come from a wide range of backgrounds – African, Anglo-Celtic, Chinese, Greek, Indian, Italian, Christian, Jewish, Muslim – another testimony to the vibrancy and diversity of this fabulous city.”

The monument, first commissioned by three-time premier of NSW Sir James Martin, was initially kept at his home in Potts Point until 1943, when it was moved to its current position in the gardens.

John with his wife Dr Patricia Azarias.

Two years on since their efforts commenced, and the Azarias have succeeded in their mission to restore the monument to its former glory through the state government’s Stone Masons Program, costing $600,000 in total and made possible by both private and government funding.

But it’s not just the monument that they have brought back to life. In a bid to encourage and reward the theatrical talent in Australia, they have reintroduced the Great Dionysia theatre model itself with the Lysicrates Prize.

Reminiscent of the three trilogies in ancient Athens, three shortlisted playwrights are invited to perform the first scene of their work, and unlike other competitions of this calibre, it is the audience that determines the winner; a concept which hasn’t been implemented anywhere in the world for some 2,000 years.

“In essence we are reviving the Great Dionysia,” says Mr Azarias. “Every member of the audience comes in to the conservatorium, they receive a little ceramic token and then they watch one play after the other. When they leave there are three urns, one for each play, and they put the token they have in one. The urn that has the most is the winner.”

Not only does the playwright get the approval of an audience, but they also receive $12,500 to assist in writing the full play.

The inaugural prize in 2015 was awarded by Premier of NSW Mike Baird, and in 2016 by Federal Minister for the Arts, Mitch Fifield.

But the idea of taking the power out of the artistic director’s hands was not initially looked upon favourably.

“When we first went to visit the artistic director of the Griffin Theatre to tell her about our idea she said that we were crazy,” Mr Azarias admits.

“The artistic director of every theatre is a gatekeeper; everyone goes and begs them to take up their play and here we are going to her and telling her that you will give away your part to the audience.”

Though by persevering and doing so, he says the foundation has created an alternative platform for theatre producers and artistic directors to see how audiences react. In future he hopes the event will expand over two or three days, and attract attention across the globe.

Along with the unveiling of the monument this month, The Lysicrates Prize 2015: The People’s Choice book will be launched and shortlisted playwrights will be announced for the 2017 Lysicrates Prize. The performance is scheduled to follow at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in February, and in a bid to attract people from all sectors of society, there will be no entry fee.

“We want to have people from all the postcodes, all age groups and not just the usual suspects who normally go to the theatre or are from the theatre scene,” said Mr Azarias.

For some, it may seem to be a lot of effort to go to, to commemorate a time in ancient history long past. But for Mr Azarias it is far more than that.

“The monument is part of our heritage here; it is 148 years old and we do not only celebrate our past but we also promote Australian creativity,” which he says is the foundation’s core objective.
“The motto of our foundation is that it is the scribblers, daubers and assorted eggheads who are a society’s real treasures, the ones who capture our stories − they will be the ones who will be remembered. Nothing else will be remembered in the future, nothing else.”

The restored replica of the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates will be unveiled on Sunday 16 October. For more information, visit www.lysicratesfoundation.org.au/