On Friday 21 March 2025, at 6.30pm at the New Stage Nicos Charalambous, the Cyprus Theatre Organisation is hosting an open discussion on “Modern approaches to Henrik Ibsen” to accompany its production of the great Norwegian dramatist’s play Little Eyolf adapted and directed by the Swedish director Stefan Larsson. The event will offer audiences the opportunity to gain an understanding of Ibsen’s oeuvre and its timeless appeal, and to also discover the approach to a contemporary interpretation of Little Eyolf, which is being staged for the first time by THOC.

Dr. Maria Sehopoulou, a theatre scholar who teaches on the postgraduate programme of the University of Athens Department of Theatre Studies and is an Adjunct Lecturer on the postgraduate Performing Arts programme of the Hellenic Open University, will open the event with a talk entitled “Ibsen’s dramaturgy and Little Eyolf”, outlining the particular characteristics of his writing and the thematic motifs of the play. The renowned translator and literary critic Margarita Melberg will then examine the experience of rendering Ibsen’s works for today’s audiences, focussing on her own approach to Stefan Larsson’s adaptation of Little Eyolf.

Larsson himself, one of the most important directors of our time, will then introduce his personal reading of the play, addressing the crucial question of how a classic work can be transposed to a contemporary milieu.

The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Avra Sidiropoulou, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Assistant Professor MA in Theatre Studies Programme, Open University of Cyprus and Maria Hamali, Doctor of Theatre Studies and a member of Cyprus Theatre Organisation’s Board of Directors.

There will be simultaneous interpretation from Greek to English and English to Greek.