Two more performances of 'Once Upon a Time' scheduled for Christmas Eve

The sold-out premiere of the new production of the Nicosia International Festival, 'Once Upon a Time', a show for audiences of all ages - children and parents alike- took place on Saturday, 16 November.

The First Lady of the Republic of Cyprus, Philippa Karsera Christodoulides, honored the premiere with her presence, a press release on the event noted.

Following the success of the first three performances, the Nicosia International Festival is adding two more performances on Tuesday 24 December 2024 (Christmas Eve) at 11am and 4pm, at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre.

Nicosia 2030, the candidate city for the title of European Capital of Culture, embraces the traditions, myths, and fairy tales of Cyprus, highlighting the intangible cultural heritage of our country. In this context, it brought to life Cypriot fairy tales through the work of a remarkable creative team. These include The Dragoness and the Princess, Pittortos, Trantafyllene, Dkiamantis and Stachtoula.

The tales were recorded by the researcher Nearchos Clerides in his book ‘Cypriot Tales’, published by the Nearchos Clerides Cultural Foundation. Based on this book, Alpha Cyprus created an innovative audio podcast, from which, the idea for the performance Once Upon a Time was born, featuring a dramatization by Stavros Stavrou, original music and songs by Kostas Kakogiannis and Pambos Kouzalis, a live orchestra, animations, puppets, a children's choir, and immersive cinema-like sound. All of this is brought together under the direction of Kleitos Kleitou.

Creative team

Dramaturgy: Stavros Stavrou

Cypriot dialect editing: Andreas Tsouris

Music Credits:

Music: Kostas Kakogiannis

Lyrics: Pambos Kouzalis

Sets/ costumes: Lakis Genethlis

Animation/visual design: Black Dog Creative Agency

Choreography: Fotis Nikolaou

Sound design: Nicolas Prokopiou

Lighting design: Christos Charalambous

Masks: Martha Foka

Directed by: Klitos Klitou

Actors: Andreas Tsouris, Astero Kyprianou, Semeli Kyriazi

Participants: Androula Eracleous, Anthi Antoniadou and in a special appearance Andri Karantoni

With the participation of the singers: Mariam Venizelou, Andrea Markou, Andrea Neocleous, Georgia Neocleous

Musicians: Andreas Davison (percussion), Pambos Theodorou (lute, mandolin, bouzouki), Avraam Kontos (guitar, bass, piano, voice), Kostas Kakogiannis (pithkiavli, violin, flute, piano, voice) and Pambos Kouzalis (percussion, voice).

Participants: Anthi Papaphilippou Children's Choir and the Nicosia Municipality Children's Choir conducted by Anthi Papafilippou and as assistant choir conductor: Araam Kontos.

Duration: 70΄

The production may scare younger members of the audience under 5 years old.

Tickets:

From the Soldout Tickets website: bit.ly/NIF24_tickets, Stephanis stores and the Nicosia Municipal Theatre box office (Monday - Friday 10am-1pm).

Ticket prices:

ZONE A: €16/ €14

ZONE B: €14/ €12

ZONE C: € 12/ €10

ZONE D: €8

Information: 22797979 (Monday - Friday 10am-1pm) & bit.ly/Website_NIF2024

Festival identity

Organisers: Nicosia Municipality, Nicosia For Art

Institutional Sponsor: Deputy Ministry of Culture, Republic of Cyprus

Bronze sponsor: Onassis Stegi