On 5 April 2025, at Theatro Apothikes, Thoc’s Away From Home Stage presented The Braid, a play by the renowned Cypriot poet and writer Michalis Pashiardis, directed by Alexia Papalazarou, before it travels to villages and communities across the country.  Through the richness of the local dialect and its moving narrative, this landmark work of Cypriot drama, deeply rooted in local tradition and folk wisdom, brings to life an era where debt, honour, romance, love, war, death and fate are inextricably intertwined, transforming personal stories into part of the collective memory.

When it was first performed on Thoc’s Main Stage in 1985, directed by Evis Gavriilidis and Monica Vassiliou, the play won the hearts not only of audiences but also its cast and creative team, ensuring that successive productions, both professional and amateur, would follow. Its touching, episodic structure lovingly evokes the world of rural Cyprus, which, despite the inevitable changes over time, survives to this day in its customs, language and everyday behaviour.

Through her adaptation and direction, enriched by Pashiardis’s verse, Alexia Papalazarou unearths memories and experiences, and, with the beautiful accompaniment of live music from Giorgos Kalogirou, illuminates the authenticity of a world that is gradually slipping away but remains indelibly inscribed within us.  It is a production that invites older and younger generations alike to embrace the warmth of the past and its language.

Creative Team

Translation & Adaptation: Alexia Papalazarou
Music, Music coach: Giorgos Kalogirou
Sets, Costumes: Sofia Mavromichali
Choreography, Movement: Panayiotis Tofi
Video projection design: Artemis Evlogimenou
Directing assistant: Michalis Kolokotronis

Cast (in alphabetical order): Myrsini Christodoulou, Andreas Daniel, Charis Kkolos, Semeli Kyriazi, Andreas Lontou, Vasilis Michael, Kynthia Pavlidou, Konstantina Xenofontos.

On-stage musician: Giorgos Kalogirou 

Michalis Pashiardis on his play
 “… from a theatrical point of view, I believe that in this work I have summed up my experience to date in the field of writing. By writing the pieces in the Cypriot dialect, I discovered time and again that this voice has not spoken its last; it is a linguistic mine, with much still to offer to both poetry and theatre, without dismissing the possibility that prose texts can also be rendered through this language, which long ago withstood the expressive formulation of a Leontios Machairas.”
(Excerpt from the press conference at Thoc’s offices for the first staging of the play on 21 January 1985.)

Performances

Nicosia
Thoc Theatro Apothikes
▪Saturday 5 April at 8pm
▪Sunday 6 April at 6pm

The performance are offered free of charge by Thoc to mark World Theatre Day (March 27). Seats must be booked online.