Almost all know about Zorba, but what became of him after the novel’s closing page and the film’s last scene?

Zorba’s Last Dance is written by novelist, poet and playwright Tom Petsinis and stars Evangelos Arabatzis, Dimitrios Koutsoukos and Donna Dimovski-Kantarovski.

The spirit of the recently deceased historical Geoegios Zorbas one day appears to the author of the novel Zorba the Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis.

Fearing the eclipse of his true identity by the fictional Alexis Zorbas, he pleads with Kazantzakis for an accurate representation of his life.

But Kazantzakis has poured his soul into the novel and sees it as the means to independence as a writer.

Their encounter runs through the relationship of two contemporary characters who seek to overcome the challenges of ageing and illness through the transformative power of theatre and Greek/Macedonian music.

Petsinis tells Neos Kosmos that he thinks the play will be engaging for all.

“There’s a certain excitement about live theatre and then on top of that, the show itself is dramatic and the director (Rosemary Johns) has worked well to really to heighten the intensity of the dialogue,” he said.

“Sometimes the drama itself carries and engages the audience.

“I like to think that younger audiences, whether they’re from a Greek background or any background, will find something in the play. Something dramatic, theatrical and music.

“Music is a great, people respond to music irrespective of their age. So that element also comes into the play.”

Zorba’s Last Dance also becomes relevant to a major issue prevalent in society today – identity.

Zorbas contests with Kazantzakis one what his true authentic identity is, not that of the book and film character.

“This is an age where identity is a big issue and people are choosing to identify in all sorts of interesting ways and there’s great fluidity in what constitutes identity.”

“It correlates with his exploration of the identity of Zorba as portrayed in the novel and the films or the fictional treatment of Zorba as opposed to the historical Zorba.

“With identity politics of all sorts in the air I think this place sort of moves in that direction.”

When: July 31 to August 11, Wednesdays 6.30pm | Thursdays – Saturdays 7.30pm | Sundays 4pm

Where: La Mama Courthouse, 349 Drummond Street, Carlton VIC 3053

Bookings: here Phone: 03 9347 6948