The Municipal Theatre Group of Stavroupolis "THEATRIKO ERGOTAXIO" was founded in continuance of the apprenticeship of the actors who studied in the Laboratory for Drama Education under the artistic direction of Isabella Martzopoulou. The repertoire is directly connected with the Laboratory’s method of working as well as the Theatre Group's. The orientation of both the "THEATRIKO ERGOTAXIO" and the Laboratory follows that of the Wroclaw Laboratory (Poland). The co-founder of the Wroclaw Laboratory, Ludwig Flaszen, gives regular seminars, as does Werner Muller among others. Isabella Martzopoulou studied with Richard Cieclak and Ludwig Flaszen.

We started with Daniil Kharms, a writer whose texts are a challenge, in our opinion, both for the actors and other artistic contributors alike. Our first production was his "A Journey to Brazil". The story revolves around two main types of people: on the one hand we have Kolia Patkin, dreamer and adventurer, descendant of ground-breaking historical figures such as inventors and discoverers, and on the other stands Petia Ertzof, who personifies realism. Through game, one of the most important factors in the evolution of human knowledge, it is proven once again that progress comes about through dreams and imagination, and is not bound to reason. "A Journey to Brazil" represented Greece in the "Festival of Two Nations in Cologne, Germany, in March 2001, and received the highest critical praise from an enthusiastic German Press:

 "… Studiobuhne: Children’s Theatre’s finest hour: The "THEATRIKO ERGOTAXIO" theatre group from Thessaloniki with "A Journey to Brazil" offered a performance rarely seen nowadays – as much regarding dramatic inspiration as in terms of scenery, sound, lighting and movement……Isabella Martzopoulou directed this discovery as a journey to uplift the soul without precedent. A triumph of sound and color flooded this performance…"

(Kölner-Stadt-Anzeiger).

 After "A Journey to Brazil" we continued our wanderings through the wonderful literary world of Daniil Kharms to discover "Who is Professor Troubotskin?" The text gives this great writer the opportunity to add a touch of acidity to a child’s judgment and realization before a world of untruths built by adults for their own ends. In this way Kharms strongly reinforces the code of entertainment as an "education of the soul", all the while with humor, imagination and the ability to see the world upside-down, which are the prime elements in a child’s way of thinking. With his caustic quill Kharms in addition shows incredible foresight, given his era, namely predicting the current use of children in today’s consumer society. 

"File Kharms"

"File Kharms", is the third production of “Theatrico Ergotaxio”, a tribute to one of the most important Russian pioneers with documents and events concerning his short, difficult and with many disturbances life, during the hard Stalin years.

Daniil Kharms – the main literary pseudonym of Daniil Yiovnaovitz Youvatsof – came into the world on 17 December 1905. A German schooling followed, and then in 1924 he enrolled at the Electro-Technical College of Leningrad. Together with his friend and colleague Alexander Vedensky (1900-1941) and the poet Nikolay Zabolotsky (1903-1958), Kharms founded the arts and literature group "OBERIOU" (Union of Real Art).

Kharms and Vedensky dedicated themselves to children’s literature, writing for the publishing house "Detgiz", more famously known as "Marshak Academy". By 1940 Kharms had published eleven children’s books, while at the same time contributing regularly to the magazines "The Hedgehog", ‘The Siskin" and "Tzizz". Daniil Kharms met his pitiful end in February 1942 in a Soviet prison after the Nazis had entered his country. Today he is recognized in the world of literature as one of its most important writers, and not only in the field of children’s literature. He is remembered as "the last Russian avant-garde."

By happy coincidence, at the same time that Kharms made his entrance onto the Greek stage via the Municipality of Stavroupolis, the Kostaki Collection, works of art from the same period as Kharms wrote, is being exhibited at Stavroupolis’ Moni Lazariston.