Presented this November and December by State Theatre Company South Australia, The Gods of Strangers explores the migrant experience in post-war Australia.
It is inspired by the oral histories of Greek, Cypriot and Italian migrants in regional South Australia, and told partially in Greek and Italian language.
“The Gods of Strangers represents a significant moment for State Theatre Company,” artistic director Geordie Brookman says. “The debut of a large-scale new dramatic work is always to be celebrated, but in this case we also celebrate the fact that we are premiering a work made through drawing on the stories of two of our migrant communities and their experiences in one of our regional centres.”
The work is heavily inspired by the author’s own family history, which she has been researching for almost two years. Greek-Australian actors, Deborah Galanos, Eugenia Fragos and Filippos Ziakas are joined in the cast by Dina Panozzo, Elizabeth Hay and Renato Musolino, who themselves come from Italian backgrounds.
Ziakas came to Australia from Greece at the age of 12 and this marks his first major stage performance.
Speaking with SBS Greek, Ziakas explained how he managed to study Drama and acclimate to his new country as a migrant himself. He also says that for him the participation to this play was an eye opener as he did not have much knowledge about past migrant experiences.
The play premiered earlier this month in Port Pirie where Elena Carapetis’ family first set foot in 1947.
The Gods of Strangers is currently being performed at the Dunstan Playhouse at the Adelaide Festival Centre.
