Vassilis Oikonomou

The first disabled Greek actor who studied in a School of Drama in Greece demanding the right of acting studies for all at a time where a relic of an old legislation (which was finally abolished in 2017 due to a new law) was practically a forbidding one for disabled people concerning their potential perspectives as actors. After a renowned course as one of the best Greek actors and directors of his generation, he founded THEAMA (Theatre for Disabled People) in 2010, the first and internationally acclaimed Greek inclusive theatre consisted of disabled actors in its main composition (such as Panos Zournatzidis, Marina Besiri, Christina Toumba, Giorgos Iliakis, Maria Mourelatou and himself) as well as by non-disabled ones (such as Aimiliani Avraam, Michalis Tamboukas and Efi Toumba). In September 2013, he represented THEAMA at the International Festival "Pro-Teatr" in Moscow, where he conducted the acting masterclass "Space and Time in Ancient Greek Tragedy", and in the Scientific Conference on the subject "Sociality-Creating Function of Art and Problems of Sociocultural Rehabilitation", which followed in October, he was guest of honor - speaker with his lecture on the reconstruction of teaching for disabled thespians, entitled: "Opsis: The interpretation of the term from antiquity to contemporary theatrical reality". In 2014, THEAMA staged in Athens Edward Albee's first one-act play "The Zoo Story", with Michalis Tamboukas as Jerry. The park bench -where Peter meets Jerry- was theatrically 'transcribed' in the wheelchair used by Panos Zournatzidis, the excellent actor who played Peter, and the production was noted as a critically acclaimed performance, brilliantly directed by Vasilis Oikonomou. After the performances in Athens, the production continued on tour in other cities of Greece with a fine cast which also included Christina Toumba, Giorgos Iliakis, Maria Mourelatou, Efi Toumba, Aimiliani Avraam, Marina Besiri and himself in roles of persons that come from Jerry's narration, and in their way of existing in his state of being, they get life on stage, some of them in animal figures. The documentary THE.AM.A. (2014), directed by Eliana Perifanou and Maria Sidiropoulou, was filmed mainly during the rehearsals and the performance of "The Zoo Story", depicting the work of this exquisite theatre group. On the occasion of World Theatre Day (WTD) March 27, the documentary was broadcast that day in 2015 by the Greek TV network of Public Television.