Those of us who were fortunate enough to have been able to secure tickets to the recent performance of Twenty Two at the impressive Clayton’s Community Centre Theatre have borne witness to the birth of an important new drama and an innovative performance.
The play tells the story of the Asia Minor catastrophe in the words of those who suffered its consequences. Entitled Twenty Two, the play is the product of Melbourne’s own Creative Drama and Arts Centre of the Greek Community of Melbourne, established in 2015. The Centre has developed this original work of drama drawing on various sources – personal testimonies of the refugees themselves, the moving songs of the catastrophe and other writings inspired by this human tragedy. The decision to create the play grew out of the recent centenary of the catastrophe. The play was initially performed at Prahran’s Agios Dimitrios Church in December last year, the current season being held in Clayton.
The play was directed by 34 year old Jeremy Artis, who has studied film and teaches drama in Melbourne. The cast includes the well-known professional actor Antonios Baxevanidis as well as Athina Giannou, Giannis Lyris, Jeremy Artis, Ioanna Kothroula, Lemonia Shoina, Maria Bakalidou, Nicky Skouri, Pam Pollalis, Panos Apostolou, and Syrmo Kapoutsi.
The performance was introduced by President of the Greek Community of Melbourne, Mr Bill Papastergiadis, OAM, who welcomed the audience to the performance and spoke of his own personal connection to the story of the catastrophe, of his family’s roots in the great coastal city of Trapezounta in the Pontus region of Asia Minor, a city whose Hellenic heritage stretches back to its founding around 800bc. Bill’s comments set the tone for the whole evening as the performance connected to the personal family stories of many in the audience.
The play itself beings with a short monologue as a widow talks of her garden and her husband but quickly moves to a kafenio scene, with the players sitting or milling around a group of chairs, with the musicians in the background as a waiter moves among them, creating the feel of a scene in an Asia Minor town, possibly on the outskirts of Smyrna, before the catastrophe. News arrives of developments beyond the town, changes to the political environment, the Young Turks promising a reformed Ottoman Empire, with equality and freedom. Some are hopeful, others are sceptical and some are worried.
Soon the mood changes, war has broken out between Greece and the new Turkish national movement, what does this mean for the Hellenes of the town. Some fear the worst, we must plan to leave, others refuse to take alarm – we have heard this before, why should we leave all we know for the unknown abroad?
The next scene is of suitcases being packed and unpacked. It is the time to flee to the coast and hope for passage to Greece, the unknown land. One character is committed to leaving, while another elderly lady says no, she will stay and if need be die in her own land. One image that sticks in my mind is the image of one of the lead actors, who sits sadly, silently, atop a number of suitcases, precariously balanced, as if reflecting the reality of his new existence.
Finally those who survive – some characters calling out to others left behind –have reached safety in Greece only to now face all the difficulties of refugees in a new land. How can they overcome the problems of dislocation, of establishing a new life and yet all the time yearning for what is lost.
The whole story is conveyed with strong emotions, directed at the audience, challenging them to understand the human drama unfolding before them. The performance is innovative, using great symbolism to convey the tragic events unfolding before the audience. This is not confined to the words – which have been well chosen for their emotion and impact – but also in the movement of the actors on the stage. The whole effect shows the great work of the director and his players.
The performance was illuminated by the emotional sound of rebetiko, supporting the testimony of the players as they move through the various stages of the play. Full marks to the musicians, including Achilleas Yiangouli, for their performance.
All the performers deserve great praise. They are clearly committed theatre lovers who have thrown their passion for performance into this great company. While most are non-professional actors, their dedication to their craft is evidenced in their quality and sincerity of their performance and in the reaction of the audience.
Other aspects of the performance also deserve praise. The acoustics of the theatre were excellent. The Clayton Community Centre was a perfect location for the performance, providing as it does a professional theatre space as well as screen and projection facilities. The latter enabled the provision of surtitles displayed above the actors, a great aide to expanding the audience for the plays message.
The provision of surtitles was a deliberate innovation by the company. They were keen to expand their reach beyond those familiar with the Greek language. It is important that the players perform in the Greek language, capturing the feel for the story, but having surtitles ensures that the language of the audience is not a barrier to understanding the plays important message.
I do believe that this innovation should be considered where possible by other Greek language performers, whether plays, readings or even musical performances. Speaking personally, I believe that the appreciation of even rebetiko music could be aided by such innovations. This could be achieved either through the provision of short explanations of the titles and meanings of the songs being spoken before the performance of each song. This is not uncommon at folk music performances, where the context or history of a song adds immensely to its appreciation. Where possible, translations could even be distributed.
The use of this new theatre in Melbourne’s south east was also a great idea. As an Oakleigh resident, I did notice more than a few locals present at the performance.
In conclusion, for me one of the important themes of the play was that of survival. The Asia Minor catastrophe is obviously one of terrible human tragedy. Remembrance of the experience of forced removal, of death and destruction, is vital to anyone considering the impact of the tragedy. But the Asia Minor story is also one of survival, survival against almost insurmountable odds.
As I looked around the theatre, listening to the audience bearing witness to the drama before them, I heard the tears and sighs of those no doubt with family connections to the catastrophe. It was impossible not to be moved by the reaction of the audience. But this was also evidence of the failure of those who sought to destroy a people and a community. The Hellenes of Asia Minor, their rich history and their experiences, has survived in the memories passed down by survivors and kept alive by their descendents. In this the producers and players of Twenty Two are to be doubly commended – because they have enabled the communication of this experience to a wider audience, both throughout the Greek community of Melbourne but also through the innovation of translations to the wider Australian community.
The human tragedy of war and the destruction of communities is at the centre the drama. But this is at the same time a universal story, crossing peoples, continents and time. Civilians have always borne the cost of war and those who would seek to destroy whole peoples through violence. We have seen this tragedy play out many times, from the ancient to our own times. This is why this dramatization is an important one for all to see and witness. Drawing on refugee accounts, the drama provides a unique form to connect with audiences, enriching the written word with the emotive delivery by the players. One could even say that for a short time they have made history real, enabling the voices of the victims to be heard through the voices of the players.
For all these reasons, all those connected with the production of Twenty Two should be roundly commended. I hope that a new season of the play is organized soon, so that’s power can be witnessed by a wider audience.
Finally, I would congratulate the Greek Community of Melbourne for its support of this important local theatre company who has demonstrated their ability to add so much to the appreciation of Hellenic culture and experience across the whole community.
Jim Claven is a trained historian, freelance writer and published author, his most recent works including Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed: A Pictorial History of the Anzacs in the Aegean (2019) and Grecian Adventure: Greece 1941, Anzac Trail Stories & Photographs (2022). A student of literature and drama at Monash University, Jim has written on aspects of the Asia Minor catastrophe and is also a member of the George Treloar Memorial Committee, working with them to erect the George Treloar Memorial in Ballarat. He can be contacted via email – jimclaven@yahoo.com.au