Kioni Children's Street Theatre with Stelios Parris 2016 Ithaca Greece Page 1

I am personally always in awe of what Stelios Parris can achieve with whomever he directs and inspires, whether it's the children of a village, such as this performance or mothers and housewives. He extracts deep political and emotional passions from those he directs and the audiences, under the guise of fun and humour, able to confront, a sometimes bitter truth, without getting a punch in the nose. The kids were great again this year. All of that enthusiasm was great. The band was great too. What's also great is that they learn a little more about themselves, gain confidence in their abilities, and know the community of which they are part of, both in the village and in Europe, through the theatre content of Stelios Parris.

This year's Kioni Children's Street Theatre confronted the issue of gossip, bad intentions of a village community, amidst a political background which supports and enhances poverty. The show started off with Stelio's own personal experience which he didn't sugarcoat one little bit. It had a few heads bent down in the audience, but truth is uncomfortable when it's called out as truth. Then the children each went through what they loved and hated about Kioni. Some of course loved everything, while other's were a little more socially aware, despite their young ages. It was actually quite eye opening and also encouraging, as these young people will at some point be running the village, and I can't imagine better inhabitants than these.

Kioni Childrens Street Theatre Sunday 14th August 2016