The life of Greece’s most famous female lyricist, Eftihia Papagiannopoulou, (1912-22), has been brought to life by esteemed writer Helen Yotis, in a musical tribute she has written that will run for one week only at La Mama in Carlton, called `Eftihia – Life Has Two Doors’, on February 14-25.
Yotis is known for writing the poignant and successful 2016 production Taxithi, that used music and monologue, to talk of the lives and experiences of Greek women who migrated to Australia in the 1950s and 1960s.
Eftihia – Life Has Two Doors, directed by Maria Theodorakis, will feature actor Katerina Kotsonis in the role of Papagiannopoulou. She will present the lyricist’s life in a monologue, accompanied by singer Alkisti Pitsaki, and musicians Jacob Papadopoulos (bouzouki) and Andrew Patterson (piano) who were part of Taxithi.
“Helen wrote this with Katerina in mind, as someone who could play the artistic badass Eftihia,” says Theodorakis of Kotsonis, in her first leading theatrical role in a long career that has featured roles in Acropolis Now, Wentworth, and Neighbours.
In a serendipitous turn, Kotsonis and Theodorakis first met at La Mama over 20 years ago where they both worked on the play Forty Lounge Café, written by Tes Lyssiotis. More recently they worked together on the 2016 TV series, Little Acorns, directed and co-written by Theodorakis and featuring Kotsonis.
Eftihia Papagiannopoulou was born in Aydin near Smyrna (now Izmir) in Asia Minor in 1893, which she fled during the Great Fire of Smyrna in 1922. She emigrated to Greece and arrived by boat to Athens with her two daughters. A maverick and unconventional Greek woman, Papagiannopoulou divorced, married twice, smoked, and worked in theatre as a performer before beginning her career as a lyricist and poet in her 40s at a time when life was very restrictive for Greek women.
“She was just ahead of her time. She didn’t give a damn. She saw the horrors of Smyrna. So, she had survived a lot. Coming into Athens, she didn’t fear anything. Now you see a lot of Eftihias around,” says Kotsonis relishing the opportunity to play the complicated lyricist and poet.
It’s believed Papagiannopoulou, a prolific writer, penned around 200 laika and rembetika songs which became hits.
Yet she died penniless, with many people not knowing who she was or that she was a sought-after lyricist until after she died. She had a serious gambling problem and frequently signed away the intellectual rights to her work in exchange for quick cash.
“The only males who credited and paid her royalties were Vassilis Tsitsanis, Apostolos Kaldaras and Manos Hadjidakis,” says Theodorakis. Although Tsitsianis, didn’t always credit or pay her.
Some of her most famous songs include: Ta kavourakia (The little crabs); Dio portes echi i zoi (Life has two doors); Ime aetos horis ftera (I am an eagle without wings); which feature in the show.
In 2009, Papagiannopoulou’s granddaughter, actress Rea Maneli, wrote her biography `I Yiayia mou I Eftihia (My grandma Eftihia)’, introducing her grandmother’s life and art to the world. Maneli then turned the book into the award winning 2019 feature film,`Eftihia’.
“The inspiration for the play, came from the songs and how beautiful they are and from the outrage that once again a woman wasn’t credited”, says Theodorakis.
