MAMI by Mario Banushi (2025)
Lighting Design
Drawing inspiration from personal experiences, Banushi creates an unholy shrine to the mother-child relationship. To celebrate it. To exorcise it. To fill it with vows and curses. To fall in love with it. For, as he himself notes, “I have always said that birth is love in reverse.”
The stage becomes a landscape of memory. As eerie as it is familiar. The performers, immersed in silence, create moments of profound emotion and urge us to recognize and confront our own memories, our own relationships, and the emotional legacy we carry.
This breakout director’s new creation is a visual poem about the mother-child relationship. A show that is a tribute to the women who nurtured us.
The work premiered in Stegi Onassis on February 2025 and is currently on an international tour
photo: Marietta Mavlaki
Conceived and Directed by
Mario Banushi
With
Vasiliki Driva / Katerina Kristo, Dimitris Lagos, Eftychia Stefanou / Ilia Koukouzeli, Angeliki Stellatou, Fotis Stratigos, and Panagiota Υiagli
Set & Costume Design
Sotiris Melanos
Original Music & Sound Design
Jeph Vanger
Lighting Design and Associate Dramaturg
Stephanos Droussiotis
Artistic Collaborators
Aimilios Arapoglou, Thanasis Deligiannis
Assistant Director
Theodora Patiti
International Relations & Tour Management
Nikos Mavrakis
Production Management
Rena Andreadaki & Christos Christopoulos – TooFarEast
Line Production
Ioanna Papakosta - TooFarEast
Auditions & Residency Coordinator
Konstantina Douka Gkosi – TooFarEast
Tour Lighting design
Marietta Pavlaki
Tour Sound Engineer
Kostas Chaidos
Set assistant
Sofia Theodorou
Costumes assistant
Nikoleta Anastasiadou
Set Construction
Michalis Lagkouvardos
Special Constructions
Alahouzos Brothers, Alexandros Loggos
Special Lighting Constructions
Giorgos Ierapetritis
Rehearsal Technical Coordination
Aristidis Kreatsoulas - TooFarEast
Rehearsal Electrician
Konstantinos Mavrantzas
Rehearsal Technical Support
Stefanos Ntaoulas, Iason Papantoniou, Grigoris Zkeris, Paris Asimakopoulos
In collaboration with
OMAZ civic non-profit company
Commissioned and Produced by
Onassis Stegi
Co-produced by
Berliner Festspiele [DE], Odéon – Théâtre de l’Europe [FR], FOG festival / Triennale Milano Teatro [IT], & Espoo Theatre [FI], Festival d’Avignon [FR], Grec Festival Barcelona [ES], Théâtre de Liège [BE], Noorderzon Festival / Grand Theatre Groningen [NL]
Special thanks
Aliki Atsalaki, Sozon Bessis / Bessis Textiles, Marissa Bili, Eleni Choumou, Panos Delinikopoulos, Giorgos Koutlis, Katerina Kristo, Eirini Kyriakou, Katerina Liatsou, Julian Mommert, Dimitris Papaioannou, Petros Papazisis, Giorgos Sofikitis, Theodoros Terzopoulos, Pinelοpi Tsoutsouva, Elena Viseri, Chryssi Vidalaki, Mark Yeoman & Raydun Bolk and the team of Grand Theatre Groningen, all the participants of the audition workshops.
Initial research & development were made possible with the support of the Onassis AiR Dramaturgy Fellowship [GR] and the Centre Culturel Hellénique—Paris [FR]
Supported by the Onassis Stegi Touring Program.
photos by Andreas Simopoulos, Marietta Pavlaki